San Diego State will remain a member of the Mountain West Conference, commissioner Gloria Nevarez announced Wednesday during the league's media days. The announcement comes over a month after it appeared SDSU was set to exit the conference in an attempt to join the Pac-12.
"As it relates to San Diego State, I'm proud to report that earlier this week we came to a resolution and San Diego State will continue to be a member in good standing through the 2023-24 season," Nevarez said.
San Diego State on June 13 wrote a letter to the MWC stating it ultimately intended to leave the conference; however, SDSU attempted to use verbiage that suggested it was not yet submitting an official notice of withdrawal. The school asked for a one-month extension on its June 30 deadline before the exit fee to bolt from the conference would have doubled to $34 million.
According to Yahoo Sports, who initially reported the resolution on Tuesday, San Diego State will be responsible for covering fees incurred by the conference throughout the legal process as the letters were exchanged. Nevarez declined to comment on the deliberations that ultimately led to the Aztecs remaining a member of the conference, however.
With the Pac-12 still not having finalized a new media rights deal, San Diego State requested to remain a member of the MWC with the league claiming SDSU had left the conference via the June 13 letter and owed an exit fee.
Following a significant amount of hand wringing between the university and the MWC, the Aztecs will be allowed to remain in the conference as long as they cover legal fees that became necessary for the conference to outlay following SDSU's initial letter, according to Yahoo Sports.
CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd reported earlier Tuesday that the Pac-12 would not announce its new media rights deal on Friday during the league's own media day as many anticipated it might. Instead, it remains in negotiations with potential rightsholders amid reports that new bidders have emerged for its package of games.
The search for a new TV contract has involved several potential candidates for both linear and streaming. There remains no timetable for a deal to be inked with the Pac-12's current agreement set to expire on July 1, 2024, the same day that UCLA and USC depart for the Big Ten. The hope was that SDSU would replace those programs joining California and Stanford as a third Golden State team in the league.
Pac-12 presidents authorized conference representatives to start negotiating a new media rights deal on July 5, 2022, less than a week after UCLA and USC announced their departures. The Big 12 jumped ahead of the Pac-12 and signed a new contract with Fox and ESPN last fall worth over $2 billion. The Big 12's current media deal wasn't set to expire until 2025, and the new deal will run through the 2031 season.
