Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson stepping down after 24 years

The only commissioner the Mountain West Conference has had will be stepping down at the end of the year.

Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson announced Wednesday he will leave the post on Dec. 31, following nearly 24 years at the helm of the conference.

“My one remaining priority was expansion of the College Football Playoff and viable access for the Mountain West,” Thompson said in a news release. “I take considerable pride in my committed engagement to this effort over the past two-and-a-half decades and look forward to the finalization of those details in the coming months. With CFP expansion accomplished and having invested almost a third of my life in the Mountain West, the time is now right for me to conclude my tenure and allow the Conference to continue its momentum under new leadership."

Thompson, 66, is the only commissioner in the history of the Mountain West Conference, which officially began operations in January 1999. It is the second NCAA Division I conference Thompson helped launch.

Under his leadership, the Mountain West negotiated nearly $600 million in television revenue, conference teams have participated in five Bowl Championship Series/College Football Playoff bowl games, as well as six inaugural bowl contests.

University of New Mexico president Garnett Stokes, chair of the conference board of directors, said Thompson's influence has been immeasurable.

“His fingerprints are on every accomplishment and every initiative we have undertaken, and he has positioned the conference to continue to be among the nation’s elite," Stokes said in a news release.

Thompson has been in athletic administration for 43 years, all but eight as a commissioner, making him the only active FBS commissioner with more than 30 years of experience leading a multi-sport conference.

Thompson sits on the CFP management committee while also serving as a member of the College Football Officiating Board of Managers, LLC.

He recently closed out a second stint as a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee.

Prior to his current role, Thompson served as the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference for nearly eight years and as the only commissioner of the American South Conference prior to the merger of those two leagues in 1991. 

As conference realignment spread throughout the collegiate landscape a decade ago, Thompson positioned the Mountain West for the future with the additions of Fresno State and the University of Nevada on July 1, 2012, and San José State and Utah State on July 1, 2013. The University of Hawai‘i also joined the league as a football-only member on July 1, 2012, while Colorado College became a member in women’s soccer on July 1, 2014.

In January 2020, the Mountain West announced a $270 million, six-year media-rights agreement with CBS and FOX Sports. Beginning in 2020-21 and running through 2025-26, football and men’s basketball games will be televised on CBS, CBS Sports Network, Paramount Plus, FOX, FS1 and FS2. FOX Sports also will have exclusive rights to the Mountain West Football Championship game, which will be televised annually on the FOX family of networks. 

In 2006, he spearheaded an effort that resulted in better access for the MW in football and more than doubled the annual BCS revenue on an annual basis for non-automatic-qualifying conferences. 

Thompson graduated from the University of Minnesota with an undergraduate degree in journalism. Following graduation, he spent two years as assistant sports information director at Kansas State University.

He then spent three years as director of public relations and promotions for the NBA’s Kansas City Kings.

Jim Krajewski covers high school and youth sports for the Reno Gazette Journal. Follow him on Twitter @RGJPreps. Support his work by subscribing to RGJ.com.