Mountain West adds football player availability reports

Player availability reports will be required for all conference games

Boise State Broncos head coach Spencer Danielson. | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The Mountain West will require player availability reports for all conference games during the 2025 football season, the conference announced on Friday. 

Two days before a game, teams will be required to list which players are questionable to play or will be unavailable. The designations will receive an update three hours prior to kickoff. 

The reports will only include a player’s name and availability. No specific injury details will be included. 

Schools are only required to submit availability reports for conference games. All available reports will be posted on TheMW.com.

“The Mountain West Conference availability reporting policy standardizes the submission of student-athlete availability information for football contests to protect student-athlete privacy, reduce outside pressure on student-athletes for inside information, ensure transparency, and promote competitive integrity,” the conference said in a statement. 

“This policy also addresses public confidence in fair play and the integrity risks associated with sports wagering. Required availability reporting will be woven into the conference’s established sports wagering integrity and compliance partnership with IC360, thus adding to an already robust infrastructure to protect Mountain West competition.”

IC360 is a global leader in comprehensive integrity and compliance solutions for sports, sports betting and gaming. 

In 2023, the Big Ten became the first college conference to implement mandatory player availability reports. The SEC followed in 2024, and the ACC and Big 12 will require availability reports this football season. 

The Big 12 is also mandating player availability reports for men’s and women’s basketball. 

“I think that’s great,” Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self said earlier this week. “The way it’s worked in the past, gamesmanship or whatever, ‘Well, he’s not going to play, but let’s not let the other team know until warmups or whatever.’ Which, to me, is ridiculous. But I think that will be a positive requirement. 

Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

“I don’t know how it all works. There’s still going to be guys that are game-time decisions, I mean, there’s still going to be things like that. But I think that’s actually a good thing.”

The ACC is implementing an NFL-style system with four designations: available, questionable, doubtful or out. 

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said the availability reports are a direct response to the increase in sports gambling.

“There’s stresses on our student-athletes from individuals who are trying to garner information,” Phillips told ESPN in July. “Sometimes it’s pretty innocent. They just want to know because they’re a big fan. But other times it leads into the gambling and sports wagering path.”

The Pac-12 has not announced a player availability report policy for the 2026 season. 

Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State are all leaving the MWC for the Pac-12 next summer to link up with current members Oregon State and Washington State, Gonzaga of the West Coast Conference and Texas State of the Sun Belt.