Mountain West Conference gets commitments from 7 remaining members - ESPN

The Mountain West has received signed commitments from its seven remaining member schools to stay in the conference, with all of them agreeing to execute grant of media rights from 2026 to 2032.

«Our immediate priority was solidifying the membership of the Mountain West. Now our focus turns to our collective future on behalf of our student-athletes,» MWC commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement. «The agreements announced today mark a historic moment for the Mountain West and provide much-needed stability and clarity as the world of intercollegiate athletics continues to evolve rapidly. We are excited about our future and are executing our next steps in expanding the Mountain West.»

It also announced plans for how it will distribute money it received in exit fees from the five schools leaving for the Pac-12. Those schools — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State and San Diego State — are on the hook for roughly $18 million each, per the conference bylaws, but negotiations could lead to decreased totals.

Once it is determined what the total pot is, the distribution breakdown will be 24.5% for Air Force and UNLV, 11.5% for New Mexico, Nevada, San José State and Wyoming, and 5% for Hawai'i.

In its own statement, UNLV said it expects a lump-sum payment from the Mountain West of between $10-14 million in 2025, with additional payments between $1.5-1.8 million over a six-year period starting in July 2026.

UNLV was the lynchpin for this to come together. The school signed a memorandum of understanding to remain in the Mountain West on Monday, but it was nullified when Utah State departed for the Pac-12 the same day. After re-engaging with both the Pac-12 and Mountain West, UNLV again decided to remain,