The Mountain West has handcuffs on

[cousin oliver]

MWC exit fee not tied to an active contract (can't just wait out the contract):

"The conference bylaws state that schools leaving the Mountain West must pay three times the average yearly conference distribution if they give timely notice by June 30 of the prior year, roughly $17 million.

However, for a team to withdraw from the Mountain West in time for the 2024-25 season, when the Pac-12 loses eight members to the Big Ten and Big 12, the school will have to pay an exit fee double the timely notice fee, around $34 million."

https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/unlv/unlv-football/crippling-exit-fee-could-keep-unlv-from-joining-pac-12-ad-says-2883990/amp/

[El Paso Eagle]

Smart planning by the MWC. Someone had the foresight to plan for getting poached.

[RBP79]

That exit fee is a killer..especially for anyone joining..

[wardly]

28 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Smart planning by the MWC. Someone had the foresight to plan for getting poached.

Well the MWC members can kill this by voting the provision out. However that is doubtful as they just reaffirmed its all of them or none of them to the remaining PAC 4 members and eliminate the possibility of being cherry picked. SDSU is being credited [or blamed] for suggesting that the PAC 4 cherry pick the best of MWC and AAC for additional members.

[Ross Hodgeson]

That’s a brutal out clause!

[El Paso Eagle]

1 hour ago, wardly said:

Well the MWC members can kill this by voting the provision out. However that is doubtful as they just reaffirmed its all of them or none of them to the remaining PAC 4 members and eliminate the possibility of being cherry picked. SDSU is being credited [or blamed] for suggesting that the PAC 4 cherry pick the best of MWC and AAC for additional members.

I keep hearing this but call me skeptical that is that simplistic. Wondering if somewhere in the bylaws them voting out that also negates the TV contract or something else.

[Dannymacfan]

These buyouts seem to be less about preventing coaches, administrators or even schools from leaving an agreement early and more about providing some sort of financial windfall for the party left behind. And the more negotiable these things become, the easier it is to sell stakeholders on breaching the terms of a deal.

[NT80]

Stanford and Cal, by wanting into the ACC, have already implied they don't care about sticking together as a PAC group with Ore St and Wash St.  

Stanford has the ability to go Indy before they would consider MWC membership.

[Texas Stranger]

Cal and Stanford doing a football-only arrangement with ACC or Big 12 is how it might end up.  They can put their other sports in Big West or PCC.