New Episode of BBOC: Big Sky Conference Commissioner Tom Wistrcill

New Episode of BBOC: Big Sky Conference Commissioner Tom Wistrcill

On the latest episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus, a college sports podcast powered by Playfly Sports and sponsored by Short’s Sports Travel Logistics, JohnWallStreet Founder Corey Leff and Playfly Sports Chairman Michael Schreiber sit down with Big Sky Conference Commissioner Tom Wistrcill.

In this 40-minute conversation, we touch on:

Owning the Late-Night Window as a Brand Strategy

The Big Sky has intentionally built its brand around late-night West Coast television windows, positioning itself as the “last [premium] game on” rather than competing head-to-head with higher-profile conferences earlier in the day. He noted that late football kickoffs drive outsized national attention, particularly through out-of-home viewing.

ESPN will “pick up a Montana State at Eastern Washington game that kicks off at eight o’clock Pacific time. It seems late for fans locally, [but] I constantly have to remind our people that there are millions of bars with programming [on] on Saturday night at midnight Eastern time,” Wistrcill said. “If Montana’s playing Eastern Washington on that red turf, everybody’s eyeballs are looking at it saying, ‘What is that?’ While a third of the country is in bed, two-thirds are looking for something to do. The brand building of the Big Sky around those late-night events has been really impactful to us.”

Pursuing a Conference-Wide Jersey Patch Partner

The Big Sky is exploring selling jersey patches at a conference level. The logic is by aggregating inventory across all sports, schools, and athletes, the conference can offer a single, high-impression asset that will command materially more than fragmented local deals. 

“We’re talking over 300 million impressions annually—social media, traditional media, in person. The number is staggering when you add it up cumulatively,” Wistricll said. “Obviously, I’m asking for a pretty big number because 300 million impressions doesn’t come cheap.

It’s a low-risk high-reward effort. If successful, the Commissioner will deliver incremental revenue above and beyond what the schools could generate individually. If not, the rights will revert back to campus.

Team Travel, Handled.

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Collective Bargaining Being the Structural Path to Cost Control

The Big Sky Commissioner views collective bargaining as a cost-containment necessity. He sees schools currently being stuck in an arms race defined by escalating costs and financial instability. 

“We have to find a way to incentivize student-athletes to collectively bargain. Once that happens, you have two willing parties that can sit down and negotiate. That trickle-down effect can help settle a lot of our business," Wistrcill said. "I don’t see any other way out of it. Until that happens, we’re going to continue down this path of unsustainability where every year schools are trying to generate $30–40 million more just to compete. You’ll continue to see that until the money runs dry."

📺 Watch the full video on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube Page.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

We’ll be back with the next episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus in two weeks. SMU Director of Athletics Damon Evans will be our guest.

In the meantime, make sure to check out our sponsor, Short’s Sport Travel Logistics—the fastest-growing company in collegiate athletics travel, and the trusted choice of over 108 athletic departments nationwide. Short’s simplifies every aspect of team travel (think: air charters, commercial flights, buses, and hotels) and helps to turn complex logistics into a competitive advantage.

Previous episodes of BBOC, including sit-downs with Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman, Arizona AD Desiree Reed-Francois, Maryland AD Jim Smith, American Commissioner Tim Pernetti, Pittsburgh AD Allen Greene and Wake Forest AD John Currie, Kansas AD Travis Goff, and Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris can be found on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube channel.

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