The Metro and Great Midwest conferences could merge into a 16-team, all-sport super conference by next week, according to former NCAA executive director Dick Schultz.
Merger talks have been spurred by a lucrative television contract negotiated with Liberty Sports, a Texas-based company that televises games through the Prime Network. Prime distributes college sporting events nationwide."It makes sense to merge the two conferences," Schultz, who has been working as a Metro consultant and negotiated the contract, told The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday. "I think folks are looking a lot harder at doing just that. They should make a decision by early next week."
Schultz said a decision must be made quickly because Liberty's contract offer expires next week. The contract is for a larger all-sports Metro Conference, but could be readjusted if the merger is done, said Liberty group vice president Dave Almstead.
"There's a lot of variations on how many teams who would join, but basically this contract proposal is a multi-year proposal for an all-sports Metro that is in an enhanced fashion," Almstead said.
Still unclear is how many teams in the league would play Division I-A football, and which school would be the 16th member. The Metro and Great Midwest have seven members each. They would joined by East Carolina and Houston.
The Metro's members are North Carolina Charlotte, Louisville, South Florida, Southern Mississippi, Tulane, Virginia Commonwealth and Virginia Tech. The Great Midwest consists of Alabama-Birmingham, Cincinnati, Dayton, DePaul, Marquette, Memphis State and St. Louis.