Jan. 16, 2013
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State Athletic Director Jim Sterk
Opening statement:
"I'm here to say after a lot of discussion and consideration of many factors, to announce that San Diego State will remain a full member of the Mountain West conference. We have a lot of great respect for the presidents, chancellors, athletic directors as well as the conference commissioners and staffs at the Mountain West conference, the Big West and the Big East. We've worked with all of them during the period of conference realignment. As I called (Mountain West) commissioner (Craig) Thompson last May, I congratulated him on the good move to add Utah State and San Jose State when we announced that we were leaving. But I want to point out since that time with the addition of those two, there's been other positive changes in the Mountain West conference that has resulted in San Diego State remaining in a stronger, more stable Mountain West conference. In 2012, San Diego State had its most successful athletics year in its history and had a share of at least nine Mountain West championships. As we look forward to the future of our program, it's very, very bright. We're excited to be here today to look forward to our future in the Mountain West conference."
On having a conference championship game in hope of playing in a BCS bowl:
"There's a lot that has to be determined yet and there's a lot of moving parts, but that has been discussed, having two divisions and a championship game. There's going to be an athletics director's meeting within the next week and that's one of the items that will be discussed."
On the call to the Mountain West conference commissioner:
"It was good, and actually he had someone reach out to me prior to that. It was an interesting holiday season. I think Christmas Day was the only day that I didn't have calls, texts or emails. I think both President (Elliot) Hirshman's wife and my wife are happy we made a decision and are moving forward."
On what happened with the Big East and how SDSU got in this position:
"We made the decision 13 months ago to move to the Big East and Big West for exposure and stability of revenue in our program. Since that time, a number of things have occurred nationally, and most recently the Big Ten taking Rutgers and Maryland, and it started a chain reaction. Our move today is part of that reaction to the changing environment. We have been in discussions about trying to change the TV deal, and that has occurred. I think they signed a revised CBS agreement on Christmas Eve and Boise State was signed on New Year's Eve, and now we're officially remaining as a member of the conference. And I would expect it's not done yet. I hear rumors of other things going on."
On the most pertinent reason for returning to the Mountain West:
"I think there are a lot of factors, but I think the latest move by the Big Ten was probably the start of the tipping point that made us really seriously consider remaining in the Mountain West. And that the Mountain West could provide a better home with more stability and possibly increase revenue and national exposure with their new TV deal."
On the financial benefit of returning to the Mountain West:
"(The deal) is not done yet. CBS still has a couple more years with a four-year roll-over with their deal to renegotiate a lower payment in return for opening the national platform up so the Mountain West could go out and actually sign up to two more national TV partners and at least one more in football. So they have the opportunity to go out and work new deals, and I think there's an upside to that. That's what I was trying to fight for since I came to San Diego State. I look forward to whatever the results are. I think it's going to be positive."
On if there's disappointment going back to the Mountain West and not joining the Big East:
"We've worked on both sides. With the Mountain West conference, it was sad to announce we were leaving there, and now telling the Big East and Big West we're not going to be working with them in the future. So it's probably more the people side of things where you work with good people. I'm very excited about the future too. There's a lot of positives coming back with it. So I think there's an opportunity with the Mountain West to really continue to grow. I think the national exposure of the conference it continuing to grow. The basketball has really matured and is deep. Football has an opportunity to grow with 12 members and it's continuing to be more successful."
On how this affects the school financially:
"We think it will be revenue neutral as far as the worst-case scenarios. Probably a little bit below from 13 months ago we thought the Big East would do, but we think with the new opportunity in the second tier of football, we'll be sharing more money. I think it's going from $24 million to $84 million. So I think that will help buffer that change somewhat as well. We have some very good coaches, some good facilities and the program is on the rise. We're going to need the external community of San Diego, our alumni, fans and friends to step forward and help continue to develop this program even more."
On the cost of going back to the Mountain West and impact on the financial budget for next year:
"We were forfeiting our revenue from the Mountain West this year. So if you look at that, it was around $2.5 million. Part of our return is that we receive that revenue so we're using that to cover our Big West exit. So we should be OK between those two. And we don't expect to have a payment to the Big East."
On if he would have done anything differently in retrospect:
"I think given the factors that we had, we probably would have made the decision again with what was going on 13 months ago. There were rumors of a lot of other changes. We anticipated a lot of them. Probably the one I didn't anticipate was the Big Ten going after Rutgers and Maryland. That was one that was unforeseen. The BCS, we anticipated there was going to be changes with that, but there was probably going to be more revenue with that."
On the other developments in the Big East over the past year:
"We were obviously monitoring that and continually gathering facts. We didn't make a decision right when Boise State left (for the Big East) because we needed to look at what we felt was right for the program overall. Even up until the last couple days have been monitoring that and submitted a proposal back to the Mountain West to return."
On if SDSU and Boise State leaving helped push the Mountain West to improve:
"I think so. I think you can look at BYU, Utah and TCU, there were changes before us and then we were part of another change. They felt that the contract was not going to just disappear, so they had to negotiate something and it came after when we made the decision (to leave) and it was done before we came back. I know there's opportunity for (the MW) to renegotiate now that we're back in."
On what's keeping the Mountain West from getting the big TV contract and not just being on the lower-tier channels:
"Well, ESPN is one they're talking to that could potentially own some of the rights. FOX, CBS and ABC are potentials."
On the odds of the Mountain West getting an automatic BCS berth now with 12 teams:
"I think that championship deal has changed, so it's probably more difficult. In the past, they had some qualifiers of how you could become a (BCS) conference. I haven't been in those BCS Championship meetings, but I don't think they have the same criteria in place right now."
On what you tell the other coaches who were excited about moving to the Big West:
"I try to keep them informed, and we had a head-coaches meeting (Jan.14). I went through all the scenarios with them and where they were. The great thing about our coaches is they're team players. They'll do what's best for the entire program. I did survey coaches and what they would prefer if everything is equal, and some felt the Big West might be better. But they're excited to have a decision and they can move forward. They're looking at their schedules now and we're going to work out all those things with them. I'm supportive of them and they're supportive of me and the decisions the president and I make. So I don't think there's a problem there."
On the possible tough decisions coming up and the timeline for making them:
"We've run some worst-cast scenarios with the TV revenue and things, and we'll continue to have those budget meetings. I would think the next couple months we'll find out what there TV packages and the revenues will be. So we should have some good indications within the next month or so."
On if he's ever been a part of a situation like this one:
"Never. Never seen in the history of the NCAA this many moving parts and this much change."