‘Impressions, Exposure and Reach’: The Story and Implications Behind Loyola’s Move to the Atlantic 10 Conference, One Year On

In a Nov. 16, 2021 press release, former Loyola president Dr. Jo Ann Rooney and Director of Athletics Steve Watson announced Loyola would transition from the Missouri Valley Conference to the Atlantic 10 July 1, 2022. The move marked Loyola’s second conference change in program history, with the announcement coming just eight years after departing from the Horizon League in 2013.

A day prior to the release, former assistant athletic director of communications Bill Behrns was sitting in his office, oblivious to the imminent conference realignment which would transform the future of Loyola Athletics. He received a text from Watson asking to meet in one of their conference rooms.

“That was when he dropped the news on me,” Behrns said, chuckling. “Walking in, I had no idea what the meeting was going to be about, and that was it. Certainly kind of caught me a little bit by surprise.”

Watson said Loyola’s talks with the A-10 were confidential, adding he had to keep a small circle to prevent the information from leaking. However, discussions about a potential conference switch had been brewing since his arrival at Loyola in 2014, according to Watson.

As the former director of athletics for St. Bonaventure University — an A-10 school in New York — Watson has had a relationship with A-10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade for over 15 years. Once he moved to Loyola, Watson said he started joking with her about a conference transition, but McGlade said she was always interested in making it happen.

“I don’t know that I would characterize it as joking around,” McGlade said. “When he accepted the position at Loyola, the compatibility of that institution to the A-10 was very evident.”

As Loyola grew to become a powerhouse across several sports in the MVC, Watson said Loyola began to look more attractive to conferences looking to add new members. He said this is when the jokes started to turn into, “Hey, would you really be interested?”

McGlade said a meeting with all presidents of A-10 member schools is required to cast a vote and make a final decision on conference realignment. Because university presidents typically have full agendas and are in different time zones, McGlade said they had to settle for an inconvenient 9 p.m. EST call.

That same night, McGlade was between flights at North Carolina’s Charlotte Douglas International Airport following a university visit. She was expecting to catch the last flight of the day to A-10 headquarters in Newport News, Virginia but had a tight window to conduct the vote and work out the final details in the Presidents Council call.

“I’m watching the clock, because I know that the 10:05 flight is the last flight, and if I don’t get it, I’m not getting back,” McGlade said. “As you can guess by the story I’m telling you, my flight at 10 o’clock was long gone, so I was stuck in Charlotte for another night.”

McGlade said according to the A-10 constitution and bylaws, two-thirds of votes are required to approve a major decision. When voting on Loyola’s entry to the A-10, McGlade said it was a unanimous yes.

Following the vote, Watson said he met with Rooney, Chief Financial Officer Wayne Magdziarz and Senior Vice President of Administration Tom Kelly in the Water Tower Campus’ Lewis Towers to have a “final conversation” with the A-10. To extend the official invitation to join the conference was the chair of the A-10 Presidents Council — then president of Saint Joseph’s University and current Loyola president Dr. Mark C. Reed. 

“The irony of all ironies is the chair of the Presidents Council for the Atlantic 10 at the time was Dr. Reed, when he was at Saint Joe’s,” Watson said. “We joke about that actual call. Who would’ve known that you fast-forward a few months and we’re doing the inauguration for him as president?”

McGlade said she felt a great sense of relief and excitement when the move became official, adding she was content with the professionalism with which everything was handled and the positive response from the press and fans around the country. 

For Loyola, the transition brought several changes, many of which presented themselves as challenges. Some of these include facing new conference opponents for the first time, a more rigorous travel schedule and an arguably higher level of competition. According to former Loyola director of communications, Ryan Haley, one of the biggest changes Loyola is going through — as well as one of the most rewarding attributes of joining the A-10 — is the program’s increase in exposure.

Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Operations Tom Sorboro said “it all becomes about impressions, exposure and reach.” Loyola’s increased exposure begins with the A-10’s TV package, which Sorboro said is significantly different from the MVC’s.

Coming off a Sweet Sixteen run and a first place finish projection in the MVC, the 2021-22 Loyola men’s basketball team had 11 nationally televised games in conference play under the MVC’s TV package. In the A-10, the 2022-23 team finished last in the conference but still received 10 nationally televised games. The University of Dayton, 2023 A-10 Champions, had 13 of its 18 games broadcast nationally. 

Additionally, Sorboro said the A-10 gives Loyola more freedom to distribute the games that are not on the conference’s TV package. The MVC gives exclusive rights to ESPN+ to broadcast five of each teams’ games, obstructing the universities’ ability to broadcast them on other media outlets, therefore limiting their exposure. The A-10 allows all games that are not in their TV package to be simulcast on ESPN+ and other networks such as NBC Sports Chicago.

“The value there is the universe is bigger, so you’re getting more eyeballs,” Sorboro said. “National broadcast is millions and millions of viewers versus an ESPN+ broadcast could be, you know, thousands, hundreds of thousands, but certainly probably not millions.”

Sorboro said Loyola doesn’t get paid by networks to broadcast its games but gets its money’s worth in the visibility its sponsorship assets get, such as the increase in value for the PNC Bank logo on Gentile Arena’s court. 

The conference transition will also help Loyola, as well as other A-10 universities, with recruiting, according to McGlade. Loyola will get unprecedented exposure in large east coast markets — something they lacked in a conference limited to just midwestern teams in the MVC. The A-10 will also benefit, as they expand their footprint to Chicago, the third-most populous city in the United States.

Haley said he talked with coaches about using the extra exposure in their favor.

“I think it’s an incredible recruiting tool,” Haley said. “If you are a basketball coach in a big city and you can say, ‘Just turn your TV to that channel, and we’ll be on it,’ I think that’s an incredible thing you can sell.”

Loyola women’s basketball Head Coach Alison Guth — hired April 8, 2022 — said the program’s move to the A-10 was a major motivator in her decision to take the job. Guth said it opens a new blueprint for the university to recruit, which can help her team compete in the NCAA Tournament at the level she wants.

Loyola’s president and chair of the A-10 Presidents Council commented on the increase in exposure and how its effect on recruiting ripples beyond athletics.

“Competing with high profile teams and storied rivals helps recruiting in athletics,” Reed said. “Heightened visibility in national markets means that Loyola continues to attract the attention of top students and faculty.”

Towards the end of the men’s and women’s basketball seasons, Loyola received heavy criticism for joining a basketball-centric conference as they sat at the bottom of the A-10 standings. Critics argued Loyola wasn’t ready for the transition, but the program has captured championships in other sports before basketball season even began.

Loyola’s cross country teams swept the A-10 titles, as both men’s and women’s took the first A-10 championships of the 2022-23 school year. Women’s volleyball broke A-10 records for most wins in a season with 17 and most consecutive wins at 14, capping off the year with the A-10 regular season title and championship crown. Men’s soccer went undefeated at home throughout the entire season and reached the final but lost in a penalty kick shootout against No. 20 Saint Louis University.

McGlade commended Loyola for its strong first season in the A-10. She described the Loyola staff and coaches as “fabulous,” adding she is blessed to have so many positive partners in the A-10.

“I don’t just think that it’s, you know, the first year honeymoon year,” McGlade said. “I feel like it genuinely is such a natural fit for the A-10 and for Loyola. They are just going to continue to flourish and be successful, as will the A-10.”    

Featured image by Fernando Molina Bier / The Phoenix