Finding a lifeline
On Oct. 28, The Athletic first reported CUSA’s talks with FBS independents Liberty and New Mexico State as full members and UConn as a football-only member. UConn soon pulled out of the picture, as its fans didn’t like the idea.
CUSA turned to the FCS ranks and on Nov. 5 added Liberty and NMSU, along with FCS schools Jacksonville State and Sam Houston. In Liberty and NMSU, CUSA had found two schools in need of a conference at the exact moment the league needed schools.
“It was a lifeline,” NMSU athletic director Mario Moccia said. “You know that movie Titanic? We got on the door, which was independent football. When Conference USA came around, it was the best thing that could have happened.”
C-USA announces the addition of four new members: Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State and Sam Houston.
𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲.#TheCUSAWay |
https://t.co/gpdTbiA58I pic.twitter.com/OFQPNDcNGA
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) November 5, 2021
MTSU and WKU continued their talks with the MAC. CUSA officials knew MTSU was less enthusiastic about the prospect of leaving than WKU. If it could convince the Blue Raiders to stay, it might be enough.
On Nov. 10, Middle Tennessee announced it would stay in CUSA, citing a southern-based alumni footprint and the stability of the four new additions.
What went unsaid was money. MTSU and the four remaining CUSA schools were set to receive millions in entrance and exit fees from all the change. That money went toward MTSU’s new football building currently under construction and the recent buyout of head coach Rick Stockstill.
WKU still held out hope for the MAC, but the conference wasn’t interested in an odd number of schools.
“If they had offered a spot, we would have accepted it,” WKU athletic director Todd Stewart said. It didn’t come.
With nine schools locked in, CUSA had gotten off the ledge, even if it now looked like a land of misfit toys. Fans of the five remaining schools weren’t enthused.
“We don’t like to use that S-word, that ‘stable’ word,” MacLeod said, “but convincing those two to stay was a big step.”
The drama wasn’t quite done. Marshall, Southern Miss and Old Dominion announced they would leave in 2022, rather than 2023, and came out on top after a month-long court battle with the league. Nearly all of the conference realignment moves sparked by Texas and Oklahoma were completed before the Longhorns and Sooners had even left the Big 12.
Battered and bruised, CUSA moved forward. So began the road back.
Negotiating media rights
Next up was the television deal, and CUSA had a clear objective: Make games easier to watch.
Years of playing on broadcasters like Stadium and Facebook, alongside the primary place of CBS Sports Network, had put CUSA football out of sight and out of mind. Fans constantly complained about how difficult it was to find games.
“We had heard loud and clear from fans,” Caboni said. “Access to our content was really complex and confusing. We needed a media partner. Our viewership was fragmented.”
But working on a TV deal while your league membership is flipping over is not ideal. CUSA partnered with Octagon as its media rights consultant. This was not going to be a typical conversation with media partners. So Octagon broached with CUSA the idea of playing midweek games in October, like the MAC and Sun Belt do in November. Midweek games typically draw more viewership for G5 football on ESPN and CBS Sports Network than crowded Saturdays.
“We needed to figure out how to make Conference USA a more unique value proposition for broadcasters,” said William Mao, a senior vice president in Octagon’s media rights division. “Not just additional inventory.”
MacLeod, associate commissioner Tre Stallings and staff pitched it to members and got positive feedback. CUSA ultimately signed a five-year deal with ESPN and CBS, to begin in fall 2023, with a one-year option. Despite losing nine members, the new deal brought more exposure and more revenue, increasing the per-school payout to around $750,000 annually. Such an increase was also a result of members signing a grant of rights, locking themselves together in the short term. It was the first GOR for a G5 conference, a rare move of stability.
Playing midweek games, sometimes with a five-day turnaround, was tough. But coaches bought in, knowing the exposure and money it would bring to the league. Having support from coaches like Jamey Chadwell (Liberty), Jerry Kill (New Mexico State) and Rich Rodriguez (Jacksonville State) carried weight. For the most part, attendance across the league was unchanged. WKU welcomed midweek tailgating and held a concert before its game against Liberty. They were often the only games on TV.
“The league was all-in on initiatives like that and embraced it,” Moccia said.
When CUSA went through its membership change, school officials expected to make greater strides in men’s basketball than football. Nobody expected what came in spring 2023 before the shift. FAU kept winning. And winning. And winning. All the way to the Final Four, before losing to San Diego State on a buzzer-beater. North Texas also beat UAB in the NIT final, and Charlotte won the CBI. The conference went 18-3 across all three postseason tournaments, two wins from the unofficial triple crown. All four of those teams were set to leave for the AAC, but FAU’s $10 million in NCAA Tournament units over six years would stay with CUSA. A nice extra boost for a conference where every dollar matters.
Florida Atlantic lost to San Diego State in its first-ever trip to the Final Four last season. ( Bob Donnan / USA Today)
Once the realignment moves settled into place this past summer, CUSA found a camaraderie, one it hadn’t had in many years. With four of the nine members being new additions, they took pride in CUSA.
“You had people in the league who were ecstatic to be there,” Moccia said.
None more so than Liberty.
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