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It's no secret that the Pac-12's television contract has made a big impact on WSU's athletic department, and Bill Moos laid out the details with John Canzano on Sports 750 in Portland on Wednesday (interview can be found here--h/t Coug999).
Moos says that the Pac-12's TV deal gives WSU an average of $21 million per year. Nearly half of that--$10 million--is directed towards the yearly debt payment due on the premium seating upgrades to Martin Stadium and the football operations building currently under construction in the west end zone.
The Cougar AD also told Canzano that Mike Leach would have never landed in Pullman without the conference TV money. That shouldn't be a surprise as Leach's contract is well beyond anything the university had ever seen.
On the topic of paying athletes, Moos says the athletic department has estimated it would cost $350,000 to hand out extra $2,000 stipends (as has been proposed in the past).
He believes that this would be "money well spent" because time demands are far greater than in the past. Moos recalled his own playing days in the 1970s when he actually went home in the summer and got a job. These days, athletes typically expected to hang around for summer school and extra workouts.
Other notes:
- When asked to give his outlook on WSU football's upcoming season, Moos decided instead to focus on 2014 "to be safe." He added the team is bigger and improved for 2013, but he doesn't appear to expect results in the win column.
- Moos discussed his departure from Oregon. Says he was "tired" and didn't expect to work in athletics again. He is proud of the foundation he laid, and of getting Phil Knight excited about Oregon athletics. Moos said he "took himself out of the game and wished Oregon well.
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