The Mountain West Conference is signing a $495 million contract with ESPN after holding out for months. It is last of 11 college football conferences to join the four-year arrangement.
The Mountain West Conference, home to last year's undefeated University of Utah Utes team, wanted to replace the bowl games with a playoff system. The reasoning was that a seven-game
playoff would provide a more exciting national championship and a more equitable distribution of funds. Currently, the six biggest football conferences and the University of Notre Dame take home a
larger share of the broadcast contract revenues.
The 10 other conferences that participate in the Bowl Championship Series, or BCS, had all previously agreed last November to the ESPN
contract, which replaces the current agreement with Fox Sports, set to expire after the 2010 bowl games. Earlier this week Sen. Orrin Hatch, (R., Utah) also asked the Justice Department to
investigate whether the BCS system violates antitrust laws.
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