Where Did All of the Mountain West's Regional TV Partners Go?

San Jose State will make its Mountain West+ debut, but its game against Cal Poly will not air exclusively on MW+. NBC Sports Bay Area will continue its longstanding partnership with the Spartans and simulcast not only the Cal Poly game, but the New Mexico and Northern Illinois games as well, per Matt Sarzyniak.

Surprisingly, the Spartans are just the second Mountain West football-playing member to form such a partnership. North Dakota State is the only other school to sell linear (traditional, not streaming) television rights to its MW+ game.

So what gives?

This is not a new concept for Mountain West schools. The conference has allowed schools to sell linear television rights to regional partners for years now, and most took advantage. While the pool of games has dwindled along with the conference’s membership, schools and local networks can still cash in.

Altitude has aired Mountain West games over the last four seasons, including New Mexico and Wyoming home games last season. This year, Altitude has not taken any of the Lobos’ or Cowboys’ Mountain West+ games, including tomorrow’s New Mexico-Mercyhurst and Wyoming-Northern Colorado games.

The lack of a deal for New Mexico is particularly puzzling given the Lobos’ stellar 2025 season. New Mexico went 9-4 and is considered a College Football Playoff dark horse in many circles. New Mexico failing to cash in on this success with Altitude, or the network figuring it could do without live programming involving a nine-win team, is a failure on all sides.

The issue extends beyond Altitude. UTEP has three home games on Mountain West+, part of a conference-leading six appearances on the platform. One is a home game against Oregon State on September 26th, the first time a PAC-12 program has visited El Paso since 2017. None of these games will air on a local linear television channel. Once again, this omission is a failure all around.

Finally, Northern Illinois’ situation may be the most disappointing. The Huskies reside in the footprint of two regional sports networks, Marquee, the home of the Chicago Cubs, and the Chicago Sports Network, which airs the Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox. Neither net work agreed to air the Huskies’ home game against Illinois State tomorrow or their other three MW+ games later in the season. The fact that NIU was unable to agree to a linear TV deal with either of Chicago’s RSNs is appalling.

Buying rights to these games is a win-win for networks and conferences. Regional sports networks and independent stations get live sports programming that is difficult to come by. It is easier for these networks to sell advertisements than whatever reruns or other programming they would otherwise air. In exchange, Mountain West schools get extra revenue.

While the jury is still out on whether the Mountain West or PAC-12 is better off after their split and subsequent legal battle, the Mountain West’s inability to solidify local linear television partners is a concerning development at the least.