Livengood works to seal cracks in Rebels’ TV deal

After the Rebels stunned No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 26, we all wanted to watch Tuesday’s game at UC Santa Barbara. When the game went to double overtime with buzzer-beating baskets and whatnot, and the Rebels won, we all screamed again.

We screamed at Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson and The Mtn. and UNLV athletic director Jim Livengood and maybe even Rick Majerus, because though he left Utah in 2004 and Utah left the Mountain West this year, Majerus still gets blamed when things go wrong.

We screamed loud enough that today’s Rebels game at Wichita State will be shown on TV. Cox Channel 96 will air it at 1 p.m. Cox also will stream the game on www.cox96.net, so even DirecTV customers with an Internet connection will be able to watch.

As for the UCSB game, as much as fans hate to hear this, there wasn’t a whole lot Thompson or The Mtn. or Livengood could have done.

The game simply fell through the cracks. Because of the way these rights deals are structured, there always will be cracks.

The cracks are bigger in the midmajor, or Bowl Championship Series nonautomatic qualifier conferences, if you prefer. Because whereas a lot of people will tune in to watch Duke play Belmont, not as many will tune in to watch UNLV play UCSB. Plus, Duke has a deal with ESPN, and UNLV and the Mountain West do not.

UCSB and the Big West have a deal with ESPN, but it’s only for a few games, such as Long Beach State vs. Louisville. UCSB did not televise the UNLV game locally, so there was no option to purchase a feed, which Cox is doing today.

I spoke with Livengood and Javan Hedlund of the Mountain West office and Hayne Ellis of The Mtn. office, and the way it was explained is that basketball works the same way as football when it comes to TV.

The schools, conferences and their TV partners control home games. Away games are the jurisdiction of the host schools and their conferences and TV partners.

Before the season starts, the TV partners choose the games they want. In the MWC, Versus picks first, CBS College Sports picks second and The Mtn. gets what’s left. Remember, that’s only for home games involving Mountain West teams.

This explains why the Rebels will play two nonconference games on the Big Ten Network and only one on The Mtn. It seems crazy, but that’s how these TV deals are structured. And it’s done that way across the board. Sometimes games even fall through cracks at the big schools.

For instance, while every Ohio State basketball game is available on TV, and every Michigan State game, Wisconsin’s games against Kennesaw State, Colgate, Wofford and Green Bay were not or will not be televised. Wisconsin beat Kennesaw State 85-31, so people got over it.

The only option available to MWC teams to get a road game on TV where no TV is scheduled is to negotiate with the home team and its broadcast partners. Hedlund said it costs about $25,000 to produce a basketball game, $40,000 for HD. Were it not for the good folks at Cox, today’s game probably wouldn’t be on TV, either, because UNLV can’t afford even low definition.

"I’m absolutely frustrated we’re not able to get these games on for our fans, because we’ve got a great product and our fans deserve to watch these games," Livengood said. "Our fans deserve to see the Rebels wherever and whenever they’re playing, and we’re going to fix that."

The reason the MWC’s TV deal stinks is that it pays member schools only about $1.5 million per year, while the Pac-12 will pay about $20 million. If you want to know why Utah didn’t let the door hit it in the rear end, there it is.

Rights revenues are important, but no more important than exposure. And that’s why I expect San Diego State won’t let the door hit it in the rear end, either, because The Mtn. still isn’t available to a lot of cable subscribers in San Diego. Not to mention basketball recruits back east.

When San Diego State leaves, the Mountain West probably will fall apart, and what’s left of it and the Big East and Conference USA will start over again.

Let’s hope they’ll get the TV deal right the next time.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.