On Feb. 3, the Mountain West Conference announced a new media rights package that runs through the 2031-32 season.

The networks in the deal include CBS Sports, FOX Sports, The CW Network and Kiswe, the Mountain West announced in a press release.

San José State Athletic Director Jeff Konya said that this media rights deal will benefit SJSU and its athletes.

“This is a massive win for SJSU,” Konya said. “This (deal) speaks to visibility, reach of brand and potential advertising for the broader institution through these relationships.”

The main focus of the media rights deal is football and men’s basketball, the press release states CBS Sports will broadcast 15 regular-season football games, 18 regular-season men’s basketball games and the basketball quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games. 

FOX Sports will host 12 regular-season football games along with the football championship game and 20 regular-season men’s basketball games, according to the same source.

Women’s basketball is receiving significant television coverage, with 15 games to be broadcasted on the CW Network and two games hosted by CBS, according to the press release.

“Content is the new currency in the college athletics operations space,” Konya said. “The media rights platform that the (Mountain West) has engineered certainly has this ecosystem in mind.”

SJSU will continue to see the same profit margins from older media deals. 

However, this could change if the various streaming platforms perform better than expected, according to Konya.

The Mountain West and Kiswe will stream more than 1,000 regular season and postseason events, according to the press release.

Kiswe is the new digital platform that will showcase most future Mountain West athletic competitions when the deal begins. 

Revenue from the media rights deal will be distributed annually to SJSU from the conference.

Additional revenue that may come to SJSU can be earned through bowl participation, corporate sponsorships with the Mountain West, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) grants and College Football Playoff revenue.

Konya is confident that the new media rights package will attract athletes to SJSU, stating they want to be seen playing on television. 

“This aligns with the opportunities in revenue share and (name, image, likeness) possibilities for student-athletes given these potential exposure elements contained within the MW rights media deal,” Konya said.

Name, image and likeness refers to college athletes being compensated for agreements with companies, brands or people to use their name, image or likeness. Examples include social media posts, event appearances or endorsements, according to the NCAA’s website.

The media rights deal will provide more sports programs at the university with television exposure and all sports at the school will benefit from the increased number of distribution options the Mountain West now has at its disposal.

The new media rights deal comes as the Mountain West has undergone significant changes, with Fresno State, San Diego State, Boise State, Utah State and Colorado State joining the Pac-12.

The University of Hawai’i, Grand Canyon University, University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), University of California, Davis, Northern Illinois University (NIU) and North Dakota State University have joined the Mountain West in various capacities, which directly impacts the conference’s revenue and media rights deal.

North Dakota State will pay $12.5 million to join the Mountain West, which it will spread over the next six years, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

The same source indicates it will pay the NCAA $5 million to move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision from the Football Championship Subdivision.

UC Davis will also pay in six annual installments, though the total amount has not been made public. It will move from the Big West to the Mountain West in sponsored sports.

Northern Illinois will pay a total of $2 million to join, also in six installments and it will move from the Mid-American Conference to the Mountain West.

SJSU’s football schedule is going to be the most affected by these changes, as it will have to fly to El Paso, Texas to take on UTEP next season.