Boise State’s Mountain West exit fee cut by more than 50 percent

Broncos officially joined Pac-12 on July 1

Pac-12 | Photo courtesy of Pac-12

Financial details of the settlement agreement between the Mountain West and Pac-12 are beginning to emerge. 

According to a report from Daniel Libit of Sportico, the five schools that departed the MWC for the Pac-12 on July 1—Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State—will pay a combined $49 million in exit fees ($9.8 million per school). The MWC was seeking roughly $100 million in exit fees. 

Libit reported that the MWC withheld $46.9 million in distributions from the five departing schools. The MWC will collect $2.1 million more in exit fees. 

The MWC was also seeking $55 million in poaching penalties from the Pac-12. The financial terms of the poaching penalties settlement have not been announced. Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune previously reported that the MWC will receive between $22 and $24 million. 

Earlier this month, the Pac-12, MWC and the five departing schools announced in a joint statement that a settlement agreement had been reached. 

“The Mountain West Conference, the Pac-12 Conference, Boise State University, Colorado State University, Utah State University, and The Board of Trustees of the California State University for the benefit of San Diego State University and California State University, Fresno have reached final agreements to settle all pending litigation among the parties,” the statement read. “With these matters concluded, the conferences and institutions can move forward with certainty and focus on serving their student-athletes, campuses, fans, and communities.”

The settlement agreement ended a lengthy spat between the two conferences that began nearly three years ago when 10 former Pac-12 members headed off for the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12, leaving behind Oregon State and Washington State. 

Sitting without a home, Oregon State and Washington State opted to stay independent and agreed to a football scheduling partnership with the MWC for the 2024 season that included an option for the following year. 

The MWC announced in September 2024 that the scheduling agreement would not be renewed. One week later, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State all agreed to join the Pac-12. Fellow MWC member Utah State came next, followed by Gonzaga (WCC) and Texas State (Sun Belt).

After landing the first four MWC schools, the Pac-12 filed a federal antitrust lawsuit over the legality of a poaching penalty included in the original scheduling agreement. Boise State, Colorado State and Utah State later filed a separate lawsuit over the exit fees. 

Libit reported that the settlement agreement was signed by MWC commissioner Gloria Nevarez on July 29 and by the five university presidents on July 31.