May 26, 1998
LAS VEGAS-- In a joint statement released today, UNLV is joining seven
member schools of the Western Athletic Conference to announce that before
September 1, 1998, they will file their intentions to leave the conference.
The withdrawal will be effective on June 30, 1999.
The eight schools will form a new athletic conference composed of
present members of the WAC and seek to have it recognized immediately and
admitted to membership by the NCAA. A name for the new conference has not
yet been determined, nor have any formal organizational steps been taken.
The group intends to limit the conference to eight or nine members for at
least five years.
The heads of the eight schools, the Air Force Academy, Brigham Young,
Colorado State, UNLV, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah and Wyoming,
considered several options. They made their decision after concluding that
the present 16-team conference has been unable to achieve its intended
goals, and that the challenges faced by the conference are insurmountable.
Despite extensive, ongoing meetings and discussions, the WAC Management
Council has not been able to find answers to difficult problems that are
acceptable to all of its members.
Principal problems cited by the eight are a lack of any natural
affinity among the 16 members teams, a breakdown of traditional rivalries,
the huge geographical spread and its attendant travel expenses, a feared
erosion of fan support, the inability of the present conference to achieve
greater national recognition and TV revenues, and, finally, a serious
decline in per-member revenues and a major increase in expenses that
affects all schools and threatens the viability of even the strongest
members ? athletic programs.
The leaders of the eight schools acknowledged that the decision to
depart the WAC was reached reluctantly and only after a long and earnest
effort to find answers within the framework of the present 16-member
conference. They also expressed their commitment to fulfilling schedules
and meeting other obligations to remaining members
of the Western Athletic Conference.
UNLV Athletics has been involved in three conferences in its history.
UNLV was a member of the WCAC (West Coast Athletic Conference) from
1969-75; Big West (1982-96) and the WAC (1996 ? present).
