Montana's Move to FBS Would Cost Millions

[SLCBengal]

This news is about a week old, but interesting nonetheless...

The answer is, according to the consulting firm UM hired to study such a move, around $4.7 million - for starters.

The 221-page study compiled by the firm NACDA Consulting last summer and made available to the Missoulian this week by UM athletic director Jim O'Day has some eye-opening findings.

One is that an athletic budget that is just over $16.1 million now would have to increase to $22.9 in the next five years. The study projected the operating costs at $21 million in 2012-13, which is when UM would've joined the WAC.

Much of the increase would've been in the operating costs of the sports, including additional scholarships not only for football - which would've gone from 63 scholarships to the Bowl Subdivision limit of 85 - but also for women's sports added to help UM keep in compliance with Title IX.

Read more: Missoulian: UM Athletics Study: Move to FBS Would Cost Millions

This news comes about the same time that WAC members learned their TV revenue from ESPN is about to take a big hit...

Continuing WAC members were recently given painful indication of the changes wrought by conference realignment when ESPN reportedly said it would cut rights fees for the 2011-12 season by more than 75 percent.

The WAC, which had been receiving about $4 million a year from ESPN, will get, maybe, $1 million in the wake of Boise State's departure, people in the industry say.

Read more: Honolulu Star-Advertiser: The future of Hawaii Sports on TV is a Big Unknown