Mountain West to receive $69M from Pac-12 settlement, reports say

Mountain West set to receive $69 million from Pac-12 settlement, reports say The five schools that left the Mountain West for the Pac‑12 will collectively pay $49 million in exit fees, while the two Pac‑12 institutions that remained will contribute $20 million in poaching fees, for a total of $69 million, according to recent reports. Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State are the departing members that will cover the $49 million exit‑fee obligation. The payments are linked to their move to the revamped Pac‑12, which takes effect this year, and the figure was detailed in documents published by Sportico. The $49 million represents half of the $100 million the schools had originally been expected to pay the conference. Oregon‑based sports columnist John Canzano reported on Tuesday that Washington State and Oregon State, the two schools that stayed in the Pac‑12 after the rest of their peers joined larger leagues, will each pay roughly $10 million to the Mountain West as part of the poaching‑interest settlement. The combined $20 million is lower than the $55 million stipulated in the 2024 agreement, which had been intended to resolve disputes between the Mountain West and the Pac‑12 after the latter was reduced to two members following realignment. The reduced fee structure was agreed upon by the involved conferences as part of a settlement to end litigation over the poaching and exit fees. UNLV is slated to receive 24.5 percent of the $69 million total, amounting to $16.9 million. The Rebels signed a six‑year commitment to remain in the Mountain West through 2032 and had initially been positioned to collect $35.9 million from the original $155 million in fees owed to the conference before the settlement. Both conferences and the five departing universities had previously been engaged in litigation, with the disputed fees at the center of the lawsuits. The agreed‑upon reduction allows the parties to settle their disputes and move forward as a new collegiate calendar begins. The Pac‑12 is also expected to pay additional poaching fees to the Mountain West under a 2024 scheduling statement between the two leagues, which was signed when the Pac‑12 consisted of only two universities.