New Mid-Continent boss wants more exposure (Indy Star) -- IUPUI Jaguar Den

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Date Posted: 17:12:40 08/08/03 Fri
Author: Starter
Subject: New Mid-Continent boss wants more exposure (Indy Star)

New Mid-Continent boss wants more exposure
TV deals, expansion talk are 2 important issues on Bertovich's mind during IUPUI visit.

By Jeff Rabjohns
jeff.rabjohns@indystar.com
August 8, 2003

With a strong background in television, new Mid-Continent Conference commissioner Ron Bertovich said he knows how difficult it can be for a mid-major basketball league to receive exposure in that medium.
It doesn't mean he won't try.

"If there are opportunities, we're going to find them," he said after visiting IUPUI this week. "Those opportunities are not as plentiful as they were 10 to 12 years ago when regional sports networks were just starting out.

"As I go around, I'm finding our institutions have a presence in their respective markets. We're going to do everything we can to form partnerships with those networks. And we're going to have to get creative. Sometimes you have to change dates and times and be flexible."

Bertovich, who replaced Jon Steinbrecher in June, was commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference from 1986-94. During that time, he developed a league-wide package that included ABC, CBS, ESPN and regional networks. He later was the vice president of the Empire Sports Network that held rights to Buffalo Sabres games.

From the late 1980s to the early 1990s -- before a number of schools bolted for what is now the Horizon League -- the Mid-Con had a TV deal with the forerunner of the Fox Sports Net group. Most conference schools were on regional TV at least twice.

Currently, the Mid-Con has no league-wide television package. The league has a marquee team in Valparaiso, last year's NCAA Cinderella team in IUPUI and a team with some tradition in Oral Roberts.

Seven of the nine teams joined the league in 1994 or later, the last being Centenary for this upcoming season. Valparaiso and Western Illinois are the league's oldest members, having joined in 1982.

In announcing Centenary's addition in October, Steinbrecher said the league wanted at least 10 teams. Bertovich said expansion is no longer a mandate.

"It's in discussion, but there is no formal plan," he said. "I'm a firm believer that there is no magic number. If we have 'x' number of members and they're all stable, go make it work."

Bertovich met with IUPUI chancellor Charles Bantz, athletic director Mike Moore and assorted coaches and administrators during his visit. He said he was impressed that the school was taking advantage of the publicity from the NCAA tournament berth in men's basketball.

The recent power play of the Atlantic Coast Conference to lure Miami and Virginia Tech away from the Big East is expected to have ripple effects on some mid-major conferences as schools attempt to hop up a step in prestige, if possible. Whether or not that trickles down to the Mid-Con is unknown since none of the schools play NCAA Division I-A football and only one, Western Illinois, plays I-AA at the scholarship level.

"I don't think with any conference that stability of membership isn't on the front burner. Nobody knows how this is going to play out," he said. "You have to posture yourself to withstand a hit when and if it comes."

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