Bill Moos talks WSU football, expansion, and more

Bill Moss had a busy last week, sitting down for two online chats and speaking to Cougar alumni in Seattle. From all of this, there were some interesting and notable tidbits.

First, this story from The Coug (the website, not the awesome bar).

We told you about plans for a Red River Shootout style rivalry with Oregon about a week ago. You can read about what that would look like here .

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So, they'd make about the same amount as they do at Autzen when giving up a home game to play at Qwest and they'd make about 1-2 million additional dollars in years when we are giving up the home game. Additionally, there is big time value in being the "home" team in Seattle as they'd be able to have recruits on their sidelines and obviously doing that right in the heart of Huskyville is something that's very appealing to Cougs and Ducks alike.

This was interesting to me. I know some of the Oregon guys were wondering why a game like this would be worth it. Over at The Coug, they lay it out very well.

Not having to travel to Pullman, making more money, and being able to use it as a recruiting event seems to make this kind of a game a no-brainer. Hopefully as soon as a new AD is selected at Oregon (maybe in my lifetime), this thing gets rolling.

4) Spokane is going to get a Spring football scrimmage.

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He's looking at making it a destination weekend thing that would bring fans from the West side to hang out at Northern Quest Casino and stay in Spokane hotels.

This is a step in the right direction. Moos' thoughts about moving scrimmages around and taking Cougar football to the people is a perfect way to market an otherwise dull Spring practice time. A trip to Spokane for a scrimmage may just be a first step. Pretty soon, he could be hosting practices/scrimmages in Vancouver and even Seattle.

I highly suggest going to read the rest of the article as well. They discuss all the details of possible future Qwest Field games, Donnie Marbut, and more. It's a very good read.

Bill Moos: Bruce, my hope is that the conference will adopt a formula that will share tevelvsion revenue equally among its member institutions. This is the model used by the Big Ten, the SEC, and the NFL. In my opinion, it's the only way to assure parity in the conference and also provide the overall strength needed to be successful.

We don't yet know if the conference will move to equal revenue sharing, but a lot of signs are pointing in that direction. Commissioner Larry Scott kept talking about equal sharing while expansion discussions were going on, but it's unknown whether the current model (not equal) will be changed. Obviously if it is, Washington State stands to benefit the most.

Bill Moos: Tommy, I like the look of the 12-member conference and believe that there will be a significant increase in television revenue as a result of our expansion. There is reason to believe that it could be in the neighborhood of where we hoped the 16-school conference would take us.

Cha-Ching! I don't buy that a 12-member conference will pull in as much as a mega-conference, but the revenue generated should be a significant upgrade. Again, it's something that may be a minor uptick for some schools, but for WSU it's a shot in the arm.

Moos also says the weight room is done and almost paid for as a result of the "Make Jim pay" campaign. The athletic department is in evaluation mode, with Moos trying to figure out a plan of attack for the future. He sounds optimistic about all of the programs and expects WSU to be much more competitive in the near future.

Things are looking up for Cougar athletics.