Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.
As of Wednesday evening, the Abilene Christian Wildcats were still scheduled to travel to Orem to face the WAC-leading Utah Valley Wolverines men’s basketball team. The game is slated to tip off at 6 p.m. MST on Thursday and be broadcast on ESPN+, the official broadcast partner of the WAC.
Will that remain true by tipoff? That … is an open question.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that the WAC (Western Athletic Conference) is suing Utah Valley over the school’s refusal to pay a $1 million exit fee from the conference. Utah Valley announced on June 4 that it planned to depart the WAC for the Big West, effective July 1, 2026.
According to the lawsuit:
“…As a result, among other consequences, UVU is not permitted to participate in conference championship events, NCAA championship events, and/or appear on Conference-sponsored television, radio, or other media packages.”
As of 9:00 p.m. CST on Wednesday, the WAC had not released any official statements confirming that UVU would be ineligible to participate in conference postseason events or media packages. However, sources familiar with UVU’s thinking have told me that the school is very much preparing for the league to prevent home games from being broadcast on ESPN.
In fact, Extra Points obtained a memo sent from WAC commissioner Rebekah Ray to presidents and athletic directors of schools in the conference, which was dated Feb. 2 at 7:06 a.m. It reads:
It was explicitly communicated to UVU leadership that failure to pay the exit fee as required would result in the Conference enforcing Article II, Section 6(c) of the Bylaws. UVU’s decision to remain in violation of the payment requirements was made with a clear understanding of the resulting consequences, which extend beyond the institution itself and impact many innocent parties, including, but not limited to, Utah Valley and other WAC student-athletes, community members, and fans.
The most immediate consequence of Utah Valley’s decision that will have an impact on your student-athletes and community is that Utah Valley home games will not be broadcast on ESPN+. This will be effective immediately and will continue until and if they regain status as a Member Institution in Good Standing.
When Extra Points reached out to ESPN PR for clarification about this broadcast (and future broadcasts including Utah Valley), the network declined comment. Ray did not respond to a request for clarification or comment, and WAC PR personnel directed Extra Points to Ray.
Maybe it’s happened before, but I can’t recall any time since I started covering college sports professionally that a conference has straight up taken a team off TV during a realignment battle.
So how did we get here? Why won’t UVU just pay the fee? That’s what’s in the bylaws, right? Everybody has to pay those fees if they leave a conference?
Well … maybe not. Here’s what I’m hearing so far:
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