Big Sky Conference football: A new ESPN deal, FCS playoff changes, and the ramifications of the House v. NCAA settlement
The Big Sky Conference extended its broadcasting deal with ESPN through 2030, league commissioner Tom Wistrcill announced Monday.
That means Big Sky home conference games – in nearly every sport – will continue to be available via streaming on ESPN+. The new deal, which Wistrcill said includes a “very nice increase in dollars” on the current deal, takes effect in fall 2025. Wistrcill, speaking with the media at the Big Sky Football Kickoff at Northern Quest Resort & Casino, declined to discuss the financial specifics of the contract.
ESPN will also air four regular season football games on its broadcast networks, an increase of two over this and previous seasons.
The Big Sky will also begin to schedule some regular season games – Wistrcill didn’t say how many – on Friday nights starting in 2025 as it “provides incredible exposure for our teams.”
“Again, 8 p.m. might sound late,” Wistrcill said of potential local kickoff times, “but for everybody on the East Coast and the Midwest (who is at) home or at the bar, they’re watching football, and they’re going watch Big Sky football, and that’s exciting for us.”
Wistrcill also said he was pleased with changes to the FCS playoffs starting this season, which includes seeding the top 16 of the 24 playoff teams and moving the championship game to Monday, Jan. 6, 2025.
When the FBS expanded its football playoff to 12 teams, it pushed the national championship game deeper into January. That means the FCS’ own title game will get a night to itself, Wistrcill said. Last year’s title game, which was played on a Sunday and broadcast on ABC, drew 1.04 million viewers.
“For us to be the only football game on in the world that night, that’s a really big deal,” Wistrcill said. “We’ve been working really hard to push that. ESPN has noticed that it draws an audience, so they were excited to do it as well.”
As to the playoff seeding, which previously has just included the eight teams receiving first-round byes, Wistrcill said he expects that to benefit the Big Sky’s teams. Four of the league’s programs reached the playoffs last season; Montana advanced to the championship game, where it lost to South Dakota State.
“It spreads out the strength across the country,” he said, “and that’s going to help us get more home games, win more games and get our teams deeper into the tournament. It’s a really big thing.”
Wistrcill expressed frustration over the way the House v. NCAA long-form settlement impacts the Big Sky, which he said is functionally being taxed.
As part of the settlement, Big Sky departments are required to pay back damages, but their athletes will not reap the benefits as those monies are redistributed to former football and basketball players in Power 5 conferences, Wistrcill said.
“It’s really unfair, and there’s not much we can do about it,” he said. “It’s disappointing that none of our student athletes are going to get this money, and yet we’re all being taxed for it.”
Wistrcill estimated that Big Sky schools would be required to pay anywhere from $180,000 to $350,000 annually for the next 10 years as part of the settlement.
Total annual revenue for Big Sky programs ranges from $35.8 million (Sacramento State) to $12.1 million (Idaho State), according to data aggregated by USA Today. Eastern Washington’s budget is the second-smallest among the Big Sky’s 10 full members at $12.8 million; Idaho’s is fifth-largest at $23 million.