Tuesday, June 5, 2001

[ WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ]

WAC set to
announce TV
contract

Conference presidents
enjoy meeting without 'crisis'

Jeep pulls out as sponsor of what
was Oahu and Aloha bowls

---

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson will likely announce today that a new multi-year television deal with two networks has been reached. Under the agreement, ESPN will handle the national games in football and men's basketball, while Fox Sports will likely serve as a regional host.

"There are still some details that need to be worked out," Benson said yesterday from the two-day WAC presidents meetings in Carmel, Calif. "But we should have an announcement from the presidents ready by this afternoon.

"It's nice to have a meeting without some kind of crisis involved. It's good for a change. The presidents made some decisions on different things, but there are still planned discussions (this morning) on the table," Benson said.

The new 10-team league said goodbye to Conference USA-bound Texas Christian, and is saying hello to Boise State and Louisiana Tech, with the latter officially joining the WAC on July 1. The presidents also bid a fond farewell to Ken Mortimer, outgoing University of Hawaii president.

Mortimer was directly involved in some critical and controversial decisions in the 1990s that eventually forced the league to break apart four years ago.

The league is still considered by many to be too far-flung geographically (from Louisiana to Hawaii and Texas to Idaho).

"Dr. Mortimer was a steady hand during some very trying times for this league," Benson said. "We will miss his leadership and guidance. Contrary to the critics, we have more than survived the breakup with the Mountain West schools."

Still, there are causes for concern. The new television deal won't rival what the eight breakaway schools receive in their current $42 million contract with ESPN. The WAC also has only two bowl tie-ins with the financially shaky Silicon Valley Football Classic and the Humanitarian Bowl.

There were some discussions yesterday concerning the loss of the Aloha and Oahu bowls to mainland cities Seattle and San Francisco, but there continues to be no chance the WAC will be involved in a postseason game in Hawaii this year.

Sources said yesterday that Jeep would not sponsor the bowl games formerly known as the Christmas Day doubleheader. That leaves Aloha Sports Inc. Chief Executive Officer Fritz Rohlfing, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, looking for someone to replace the longest-running title sponsor in bowl history.

Like ABC and ESPN, it's believed Jeep was upset at losing the coveted Christmas Day time slot. Jeep reportedly paid $1.5 million as the title sponsor for the Oahu and Aloha bowls. The Seattle game is set for Dec. 27 and the San Francisco affair for Dec. 30.

"It certainly hurt us as a league when the two games left the islands because you knew Hawaii had a good chance to play there if they had a winning season," Benson said. "It was great exposure for our conference to play on Christmas Day."

If the league was able to secure an existing license of a bowl game experiencing financial difficulties, then it could be played here in 2002.

An NCAA moratorium is in place for at least another year to keep any new bowl games from being added to the existing 25.

"We would like to see a bowl game in Hawaii if that's possible," Benson said.

In other news, the WAC presidents will likely select Tulsa as the site for the men's and women's basketball tournament.