UH sealed the deals for the MWC in football and Big West in all other sports!

SDUT = San Diego Union-Tribune
UH = University of Hawaii Athletics web site


About joining the MWC for football and Big West for all other sports, JD said:
"This is what our coaches and what our fans want, and we delivered." (HSA)


About changing conferences for UH, UH President M.R.C. Greenwood said:
"People don't like change, but this is a change for the positive." (HSA)


JD said that the geography of the WAC was moving east:
"and the concern I had was eventually some of those schools would start asking for travel subsidies because of the cost, for them, to travel to Hawaii." (HSA)


HSA Note: "Instead, UH will participate in "cost sharing" — meaning it will pay subsidies — for Mountain West and Big West schools traveling to Hawaii. The payments will involve only airfare, not hotel stays, according to UH officials."


HSA Note: "Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell said "there will be costs" UH will pay to visiting Big West teams. "It will happen," he said, although an amount has not been decided. UH will relinquish the television rights to its sports to the Mountain West and Big West. UH currently earns $450,000 annually as its share of a deal between the WAC and sports cable-television network ESPN. In addition, UH earns roughly $2.5 million, mostly from pay-per-view subscriptions, in a deal with Oceanic Time Warner Cable and television station KFVE."

HSA Note: "However, each Mountain West team receives about $1.45 million a year from the national television deal. And with the loss of three key members, UH, if it had chosen to remain in the WAC, would receive a reduced share, probably about $100,000 annually, from the WAC's deal with ESPN."


JD said that when the leadership committee was debating whether or not to lose the WAC:
"we couldn't afford not to do it." (HSA)


About UH leaving the WAC, Karl Benson said:
"This was not unexpected. ... At this point we'll have to move forward." (HSA)


HSA Note: "With teams prepared to switch conferences, Farrell met with the leaders of Big West schools in February and March to "start making contingency plans." In April, Farrell and Donovan were on the same flight. They reminisced about the 12 years UH women's teams spent in the Big West. In June, Boise State announced it would leave the WAC. In August, Fresno State and Nevada did the same. Farrell and Donovan then met to discuss the possibility of UH joining the Big West in sports other than football. In October, Howard Karr, chairman of the UH Board of Regents, and Greenwood formed what would be dubbed the "leadership committee." Rockne Freitas, UH vice president of academic affairs, was summoned to be what Karr called the "traveling liaison." "


About comparing new D-I member Bakersfield with UH, Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell said:
"It became obvious Hawaii was the right fit for us." (HSA)


About the 2 rectangular placards in holiday gift wrapping at their news conference, having the logos of the MWC and Big West, JD said:
"It's the best Christmas present I could possibly dream of." (HSA)


About how the Big West is a great baseball conference, UH baseball head coach Mike Trapasso said:
"Not only does the Big West have multiple teams in the regionals every year. But some years multiple teams in the College World Series." (HSA)


About the importance of the reduced travel time for UH athletes, JD said:
"On average, we're looking at one less day traveling for each trip for all sports. That means less missed classes." (HSA)


About how the Big West was attractive to UH, UH President M.R.C. Greenwood said:
"That's one of the things we found especially attractive about the Big West. Our teams playing closer to home and in a conference where the academic standards are pretty high." (HSA)


About inviting UH to the MWC for football, Thompson said:
"The Mountain West Conference is very pleased to gain the University of Hawai'i as a football-only member beginning with the 2012 season. Hawai'i's outstanding football program and television value fit perfectly with the MWC's strategic initiatives for the future direction of the conference. We look forward to adding the Warriors to the MWC family." (UH)


Announcing the UH has been added to the Big West, UC-Irvine Chancellor and Chair of the Big West Board of Directors, Dr. Michael Drake said:
"We are excited and pleased with the addition of Hawai'i to the Big West Conference. In assessing Hawai'i, the Board carefully considered and was impressed by both its legacy of athletic success and its commitment to academic excellence." (UH)


About adding UH to the Big West, Farrell said:
"It is a tremendous day for the Big West Conference. I am personally thrilled because I remember well the participation of the University of Hawai'i's women's sports teams in the past and really look forward to the revival of that competition." (UH)


About UH joining the MWC and Big West, Greenwood said:
"We are delighted that the Mountain West Conference and the Big West Conference have formally invited our teams to be a part of their exciting and innovative conferences. We are so pleased that the discussions we announced were underway last month have now led to this pivotal step today.

The people of Hawai'i deserve a first-rate athletics program. We have been overjoyed by the positive reaction our wonderful citizens have had to this possibility. Now that the invitations are official, we are even more delighted. We believe joining the Mountain West Conference will bring much joy to our football fans as well as contribute to the successful future that, by working together, we all seek to enhance at the University of Hawai'i." (UH)
 

About the importance of this day to UH Athletics, JD said:
"This is an historic day in UH Athletics. As much as we have enjoyed our 31-year relationship with the Western Athletic Conference, this hybrid arrangement will allow us to continue traditional rivalries that our fans have grown to enjoy, and keep a footprint in the Western United States, where much of our recruiting base lies." (UH)


About UH joining the MWC and Big West, Howard Karr (Chair of UH's Board of Regents) said:
"We are proud to see the University of Hawai'i advancing in all aspects of campus life, and campus life most definitely includes athletics." (UH)


About how it is great for the football team to go to the MWC,Mack said:
"This is great news for our football program to be able to continue rivalries with Fresno State, Boise State, and Nevada along with the other great programs of the Mountain West Conference. Our fans will enjoy the high level of competition in the league and our players will be able to play on a national scale. This is an exciting day for our football program and we look forward to success in the Mountain West Conference." (UH)


About how being in the Big West will be great for their softball team, UH softball head coach Bob Coolen said:
"Returning to the Big West is great for our program because of the strength and competitiveness of the teams in the conference. It will also be a welcome change because of the easier travel involved with all teams being up and down the California coast. With our current recruiting base primarily in California, it will give our players more opportunities to play in front of family and friends during our conference season. Rejoining the Big West will also allow us to renew our rivalries with Long Beach State, CS Fullerton, and UOP." (UH)


About how their team is excited to rejoin the Big West, women's basketball coach Dana Takahara-Dias said:
"The women's basketball team is very excited to rejoin the Big West Conference. We have had prior success in the Big West, having won back-to-back conference titles in 1992-93 and 1993-94 and look to renew old rivalries. Geographically, it will offer our athletes much easier travel and will be able to spend more time in classes as well." (UH)


Excited for their team and fans for joining the Big West, women's volleyball head coach Dave Shoji said:
"I'm excited for our program and am especially excited for our families and fans who will have the opportunity to come to more of our games on the mainland. We are looking forward to renewing some old rivalries as we have great history with Cal Poly, UOP, and Long Beach State. I think it will be a more competitive conference which will help with our RPI and our national prominence. We recruit heavily in California and this will enhance our chances to get top talent to come to play for the University of Hawai'i. In terms of travel, it means just taking one flight instead of two or three plus a drive to get to our destination—it will be a lot easier on the team." (UH)


About joining the Big West, men's basketball head coach Gib Arnold said:
"We're looking forward to the new challenges that joining the Big West brings. We'll be able to build new rivalries with other West Coast schools and it allows our student-athletes from California a greater opportunity to play in front of family and friends." (UH)


About joining the big West, women's water polo head coach Michel Roy said:
"This an incredible opportunity for our team. We're very familiar with the teams in the Big West and now we'll be able to compete with them in conference. I'm confident we'll continue a high level of competition and I couldn't be more happy in joining the conference." (UH)


Excited to be joining the Big West, baseball head coach Mike Trapasso said:
"This is an exciting move for our baseball program. Two things it provides us is a stronger conference, top to bottom, and the travel will be so much easier for us. We will now be able to recruit in areas where we weren't having much success. Altogether it's a win-win situation for us." (UH)


About how the MWC might expand by 1 or 2 more schools in the near future, San Diego State President Stephen Weber said:
"The really interesting questions are going to be what we start thinking about in January. The first question would be: would we like to add more programs? If so, the question is whether it's one or two (programs in addition to Hawaii). Beyond that, a question is where those programs would be. Do we want to stay in Texas, or do we want to look elsewhere?" (SDUT)


About how he doesn't expect the MWC to make decisions in January, Weber said that if the board is:
"serious about looking at a couple of teams, we'd probably do that through the rest of spring and make a decision in June." (SDUT)


About how the MWC will have to see if other schools will increase their revenue, SDSU AD Jim Sterk said:
"The league is going to analyze the situation and see if there's anything else that makes sense." (SDUT)


SDUT Note: "In Hawaii's case, Weber said Hawaii brings $2.2 million TV revenue that now will be added to the MWC revenue-sharing pot. To offset travel costs, Sterk said Hawaii would pay $150,000 to $175,000 per trip to teams that play there."


About inviting UH to the MWC, MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson said:
"Hawaii's outstanding football program and television value fit perfectly with the MWC's strategic initiatives for the future direction of the conference." (SDUT)


About moving to the MWC, JD said:
"We couldn't afford not to do it." (SDUT)


About how he doesn't expect MWC TV revenue to decrease even after they lose Utah, BYU, and TCU, Weber said:
"Let's be clear: the market in Utah is pretty small; that's not a big marketplace. While there would have been a market in Dallas-Fort Worth (with TCU), it wasn't being accessed (because the league's TV network, The Mtn., lacks cable distribution there)." (SDUT)


Asked if SDSU was committed to staying in the MWC, Weber said:
"No comment." (SDUT)


About how they do not have the chance to go anywhere else they might like to go to (read: Pac-12), Sterk said:
"no offers are on the table." (SDUT)


http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/furtherreview/20101211_The_conference_dealing_is_done_so_you_can_exhale.html

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20101211_uh_accepts_pricey_move.html

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/dec/10/mountain-west-still-may-grow-beyond-hawaii/

http://hawaiiathletics.com/news/2010/12/10/GEN_1210103731.aspx