Commissioner Craig Thompson Talks Future of MW Athletics

It’s a very different time in the world of sports, no matter if it’s professional, collegiate, high school, or youth. Everyone’s had to adjust during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Mountain West Conference canceled its spring sports in mid-March and like the rest of the NCAA is playing a waiting game to see when collegiate sports can resume.

The Mountain West Network released a two-part interview that host Jesse Kurtz had with Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson this week.

In the video segments below, Thompson touched on the different times we’re living through, how the landscape of collegiate athletics has been altered, and so much more. He talks about how MW schools lost seven figures in their budgets for this year but they should be okay to end this fiscal year. However, lost revenue impacts the future, and Thompson stressed how things may change moving forward because of that loss. He gave an example of fewer competitors at events and that MW institutions are looking at other cost-saving measures. Thompson also said collegiate athletics will not return until campuses reopen.

The University of Wyoming was one of the eight founding members of the Mountain West Conference in 1999. Craig Thompson has served as the Commissioner of the MW since its inception. There are currently 11 full-time member schools in the Mountain West. Hawai'i is a football-only member. The league covers eight states in the Western U.S.