By TRISHA BARKER
trisha@du2.byu.edu
ESPN and Mountain West Conference officials reached a seven-year agreement Monday, giving ESPN exclusive national television rights to football and men's basketball games next year.
Assistant BYU athletic director Val Hale said the agreement will provide increased revenues and exposure for the Cougars.
'I think the deal will be a marked improvement over the old arrangement,' Hale said. 'With only eight teams instead of 16, the revenues will be much greater, and there will be a tremendous amount of national and local exposure.'
'The Mountain West Conference will be one of the nation's most competitive leagues, and this agreement will greatly enhance our already solid lineup of college sports programming.'
-- John Wildhack, ESPN senior vice president
According to a news release, MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said the relationship with ESPN will be vital in the development of the new conference.
'The exposure this agreement affords our conference is tremendous,' he said. 'We are very excited to forge this partnership with a worldwide sports TV leader like ESPN.'
Thompson said the agreement would also help with recruiting and school name recognition across the nation.
Under the agreement, ESPN will have exclusive national television rights and will distribute games through ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Regional Television.
'The Mountain West Conference will be one of the nation's most competitive leagues, and this agreement will greatly enhance our already solid lineup of college sports programming,' ESPN senior vice president John Wildhack said in a news release.
The MWC will begin operations July 1 and will be comprised of eight schools: Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, University of New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, University of Utah and University of Wyoming.