San Diego State to Remain in Mountain West Conference: Report
The San Diego State saga has taken another turn this week as the Aztecs try to maneuver their way through the latest wave of conference realignment drama.
On Friday, June 16, SDSU gave the Mountain West written notice that it “intends to resign from the Mountain West Conference” but requested a one-month extension in order to keep its exit fee from doubling.
The Mountain West denied the request, of course, but then SDSU claimed that its original letter was not official notice of its departure, but rather an inquiry on its options to exit. The MWC said that it recognized the letter as a formal withdrawal and began withholding distribution while expecting a buyout fee from the Aztecs.
Now, as of Tuesday, July 18, the Mountain West has informed SDSU that it will remain a member of the conference but will be responsible for covering fees that the conference expensed over legal work during a letter exchange with SDSU about its possible withdrawal, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.
If the situation feels a bit convoluted, you’re not alone. The legal aftermath of SDSU’s letter left the university in limbo, given that an extension was never granted to keep their buyout fee around $16.5M, rather than ~$34M.
However, the extension wouldn’t have gotten the Aztecs anywhere it appears, as their likely destination, the Pac-12, doesn’t appear to be announcing any sort of media rights deal by the end of July.
According to multiple reports on Tuesday, the Pac-12 will not announce a new television deal at its Media Day event on Friday, which pushes the deadline into August at the earliest. The conference has been clear that it will finish its negotiations for a new deal before announcing any additions to its membership, thus leaving SDSU, and any other expansion candidates, in abeyance.
For now, it appears that the Aztecs will have to stay put, but at this point, they’re likely happy just to have somewhere to call home.
