For the second straight year, the Mountain West Conference capitalized on its geographical footprint by hosting its annual football media days at the Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
There’s just one problem: One of the conference’s best players, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, is only 20 years old. That means that he isn’t allowed to step foot inside the 21-and-up hotel and casino where the Mountain West Media Days is actually taking place.
As a result, the first-team All-Mountain West selection is holding his own solo media days availability at Bellagio, which isn’t even in the same part of Las Vegas as Circa. Bellagio is located on the Las Vegas Strip, while Circa has become a cornerstone of Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, meaning that anyone who wanted to interview the reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year and cover the rest of the conference’s media days would need to drive back and forth between the two locations to do so.
Mountain West media day is held at the Circa, a hotel strictly for 21+
Boise State star RB Ashton Jeanty is only 20, so he’s holding a solo media day by himself at the Bellagio pic.twitter.com/OBbrW9DGLx
— Steve Helwick (@s_helwick) July 11, 2024
In a segment on Boise NBC affiliate KTVB, sports director Jay Trust and reporter Brady Frederick acknowledged the unique nature of the setup. Making matters more awkward, it appears that Jeanty’s media sessions at Bellagio didn’t take place in the lobby or a conference room but rather in his personal hotel suite.
While it’s understandable that the Mountain West would want to emphasize its presence in Las Vegas by hosting its media days there, this seems like an issue that should have been foreseeable. Even if most media days consist of upperclassmen — some of whom are also younger than 21 –, it’s not far-fetched that a team would bring a sophomore as a representative, especially when he’s one of the best players in the conference.
Ultimately, one of the biggest benefits of media days is that the event brings all of the conference’s coaches and top players to a single location, creating a convenient setting for the media to highlight the league. Hosting the event at a location that doesn’t allow all of those representatives to be present runs counter to that very premise.
Then again, we likely wouldn’t be writing about Mountain West Media Days here otherwise.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.