Jon Kasper: Foundation, Opportunity & Leading in the Big Sky

Today on The Krista Redpath Show, Jon Kasper — Senior Associate Commissioner of Championships & Media Partnerships for the Big Sky Conference — joins the show for a conversation centered on foundation, leadership, and service.

Jon shares his journey to Great Falls in eighth grade, becoming a multi-sport athlete at CMR, and being part of the 1992 Class AA state championship football team. We talk about the early lessons learned at home and on the field  and how those experiences shaped the way he leads today. A 1997 University of Montana graduate with a journalism and broadcast emphasis, Jon reflects on covering Griz athletics before moving from telling the story of the Big Sky to helping shape its championships and media partnerships.

At the center of it all is family. Jon speaks candidly about the importance of his wife, Mackenzie, and their children, Catherine and J.J., how their support grounds him, how the demands of championship season can create tension at times, and how fatherhood has reshaped his perspective on leadership and service.  We also pause to talk about opportunity, including Jon taking a chance in 2015 by hiring me for my first Big Sky Tournament TV assignment without really knowing me. It’s a moment I’m deeply thankful for and one that reflects the relationship-driven culture of this league.

The conversation turns to the evolving financial landscape of college athletics — NIL, the reality of re-recruiting your own roster each year, and the balance between program stability and athlete opportunity. Jon makes it clear: student-athletes deserve to be compensated. At the same time, he discusses the pressures this new era creates for programs, administrators, and athletes alike — including mental health challenges and the growing influence of sports gambling in the college environment.  Throughout it all, Jon reinforces why the Big Sky continues to pride itself on being a relationship league in an era that can often feel transactional.

This is a thoughtful discussion about leadership, family, and serving student-athletes in a rapidly evolving financial and competitive landscape.