The Pac-12 is back (sort of)! What to know about the latest round of conference realignment
-
Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
In a surprising move Wednesday night, news emerged that Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State will leave the Mountain West Conference to join Oregon State and Washington State in the Pac-12 prior to the 2026-27 academic year.
This latest round of conference realignment stems from the collapse of the Pac-12 last summer, which was put into motion the year before when UCLA and USC announced they were leaving for the Big Ten.
Here’s what to know about the moves.
Jump to:
What set this in motion? | Finances
Value of the conference | What other schools could join?
What’s next for the Mountain West
What set this in motion?
When Oregon State and Washington State sued the Pac-12 last year for control of the conference board in the wake of eight schools departing, they spelled out in legal filings that they wanted to be able to rebuild the conference. That didn’t mean they definitely planned to execute such a plan. But it has always been an appealing option, even if it was going to be complicated to pull off.
The NCAA requires conferences to have at least eight members, and after the Pac-12 fell apart, it was afforded a two-year grace period to exist below the minimum. That timeline informed how quickly the conference had to move in order to continue to exist.
What do the financials look like?
This is part of why several sources within the industry were doubtful this particular path forward was likely. The way the MWC bylaws are written, departing schools must pay an $18 million exit fee if they give two years’ notice. That number doubles if it’s less than that. The departing schools here expect to owe $18 million each, which is more than $70 million collectively, plus the $40-plus million the Pac-12 will owe the Mountain West in poaching fees that were part of the conferences’ scheduling agreement for this season.
The idea that the Pac-12 (OSU and WSU) and the schools leaving the MWC would commit that type of money was dismissed by many within the industry. Over the past year, multiple sources referred to those fees as a nonstarter for this type of rebuild. Obviously, they were mistaken.
The Pac-12 is expected to be in position to help the schools with the exit fees, in part due to withheld media rights distribution fees to departed members and other conference assets.
How valuable will the new conference be worth to media rights partners?
Here’s where it gets even more interesting. These six schools would not have paid the MWC more than $100 million just to get to this point if they did not feel confident the potential for increased media rights payments would make it worth it on the back end. Keep in mind, too, that it’s likely the MWC will try to withhold media rights distributions for the departing schools over the next two years, as it did when BYU, TCU and Utah all left in 2011 and was set to be the case when San Diego State previously flirted with a move to the Pac-12 last year.
The departing schools are expecting to receive somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million annually in the Pac-12, a number provided to the schools by Navigate, a private sports consulting firm hired by the conference. How accurate that projection is remains to be seen, but it would roughly double what the MWC currently distributes.
Who else will the Pac-12 target?
It will likely aim high and move down the list. Cal and Stanford are the dream acquisitions, but making that happen would be extremely complicated given they just went to the ACC, which is a party in four lawsuits relating to the potential departures of Clemson and Florida State. It’s worth wondering, though, if Cal and Stanford might have any remorse about their decisions to join the ACC given they are receiving just a 30% share of the league’s media rights distributions over the next seven years (in 2022-23, the ACC distributed an average of $44.8 million per school). While the ACC schools are closer academic peers than what the revamped Pac-12 will look like, how much that really matters in the big picture is up for debate.
The more realistic targets are Tulane and Memphis. But those two will need a much clearer understanding of the financial picture to leave the AAC than the threshold used by the four MWC schools. There would be appeal in building the top football league outside the Power 4, but it would still have to make financial sense. UTSA‘s location makes it a good fit.
Among the remaining MWC schools, UNLV is still viewed as a likely candidate to also move. It checks all the boxes, but that it wasn’t in this first wave is telling. The MWC’s position is much weaker today than it was yesterday, and that could be used as leverage to bring in UNLV — or other MWC schools — at smaller yearly distribution rates, a la Cal and Stanford in the ACC. Air Force figures to be the other MWC school that has the most appeal.
What’s next for the Mountain West?
As things stand, its membership will be at eight in two years: Air Force, Hawai’i, Nevada, New Mexico, San José State, UNLV, Utah State and Wyoming. One more defection would take the conference below the required NCAA minimum for which it — like the Pac-12 has now — would get a two-year grace period to grow back to at least eight.
There had been previous speculation that members could try to dissolve the conference — a process that requires a 75% vote — in order to avoid exit fees to join the Pac-12, but that would mean nine teams would have had to be on board. It’s even less likely now given the departing members are not expected to be able to vote.
The money from the Pac-12 raid could help the conference rebuild — using the Pac-12 blueprint — but it’s still too early to say what it will look like long term.
A Kansas legislative committee has extended a deadline for the Chiefs and Royals to take advantage of a stadium financing plan from the state.
The Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council on Monday unanimously approved the extension to use bonds to cover 70% of a new stadium’s cost if the teams decide to relocate to the state. The new deadline is June 30, 2026, although the committee indicated it is seeking an answer from the teams by Dec. 31 of this year.
Chiefs president Mark Donovan requested the extension late last month in a letter to Kansas Senate president Ty Masterson. The Royals verbally requested an extension around the same time. The deadline expired on June 30 but was retroactively extended Monday.
“Together, we have the opportunity to bring the National Football League to Kansas, anchored by a world-class domed stadium, new team headquarters, a state-of-the-art practice facility, and a vibrant mixed-use and entertainment district,” Donovan wrote in his letter to Masterson.
The Chiefs and Royals have played for more than five decades at the Truman Sports Complex on the east side of Kansas City, Missouri, where Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium share parking facilities. But leases with Jackson County are due to expire in January 2031, and the two franchises have been trying to plot a course forward for years.
Last year, Jackson County voters defeated a sales tax extension that would have helped to finance an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium — the home of the Chiefs — and a $2 billion ballpark district for the Royals in downtown Kansas City.
Last month, however, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session to approve a stadium financing deal that included disaster relief for the St. Louis area, where a series of devastating tornadoes caused widespread damage. The legislation authorizes bonds covering up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums in Missouri, plus up to $50 million in tax credits for each stadium and unspecified aid from local governments.
If they choose to stay in Missouri, the Chiefs have floated plans for a $1.15 billion renovation of Arrowhead Stadium. The Royals have insisted all along that they intend to build a replacement for Kauffman Stadium.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt has long professed his affinity for Arrowhead Stadium, which was built by his father and team founder Lamar Hunt. But he also is keenly aware of the revenue streams available by building a new domed stadium, including the chance to host the Super Bowl, the Final Four and other marquee sporting events.
Donovan commented Monday on the Chiefs’ looming stadium decision.
“Now, it’s literally getting down to the final points and making sure that everybody’s in agreement on what we need to do, and that we have all the pieces lined up,” he told reporters. “Because our job is to go to the Hunt family and suggest, ‘Here are your two options; they both make sense.'”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Minnesota Twins outfielder and Georgia native Byron Buxton was announced as the fourth participant in the Home Run Derby on Monday.
The Derby will take place July 14, the night before the All-Star Game, at Truist Park in Atlanta.
Buxton joins Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood, Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh in the eight-man competition. Buxton, who has 20 homers this season, is from Baxley, Georgia, and was taken by the Twins with the second pick in the 2012 draft.
In discussing his second All-Star selection with reporters on Sunday, Buxton beamed as he described the excitement of his 11-year-old son, Brix, who regularly plays the Home Run Derby on the MLB: The Show video game at home.
“He always is like, ‘Dad, if you do this, I want to bring you a towel!’ and I’m like, ‘All right.’ That’s all he cares about. He wants Dad to do it so he can bring me a towel and a Gatorade. And for me, that’s special,” Buxton said. “Out of everybody there, all the people he’s going to see, that’s what he wants and cares about. So, it’s the small things that add up to the big ones.”
The 31-year-old Buxton will be the eighth Twins hitter to take part in the Derby. Justin Morneau won the event in 2008.
New York Mets slugger and two-time winner Pete Alonso joined Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber in electing to skip the event. Both told reporters Sunday about their decisions.
Alonso was named a National League reserve for the All-Star Game in a season when he has hit 20 homers. He won the Home Run Derby in 2019 and 2021. It wasn’t held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m not necessarily called this year to do it,” Alonso said, according to MLB.com. “I love the event. It’s a sick event. I just didn’t really feel motivated to do it this year. I just figured I’d take a break, use the break as recovery and get back at it, help the team win in the second half.”
Although he’s not participating this summer, Schwarber left the door open to taking part next season when the All-Star Game will be held in Philadelphia. Schwarber has 27 homers this season and made his third All-Star team.
The Washington Nationals have named bench coach Miguel Cairo as their interim manager, the team announced Monday.
Cairo, a native of Venezuela who played for nine teams over 17 MLB seasons from 1996 to 2012, replaces Dave Martinez, who was fired along with general manager Mike Rizzo on Sunday.
Cairo, 51, joined the Nationals in 2024 after spending the previous season as the minor league infield coordinator for the New York Mets. He also served as bench coach for the Chicago White Sox during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, being named active manager after Tony La Russa stepped aside in 2022 because of an undisclosed medical condition. The White Sox went 18-16 down the stretch under Cairo but failed to reach the playoffs.
“Miguel is well-respected in our organization and around baseball,” Nationals interim general manager Mike DeBartolo said in a statement. “A diligent worker and student of the game, he has a proven track record of showing strong leadership in a variety of situations, and I believe that his voice and energy will serve as a catalyst to our team and our fan base in the second half of the season.”
Cairo played all positions except catcher, center fielder and pitcher during his playing career. He was a career .264 hitter with 41 home runs and 394 RBIs in 1,490 games.
DeBartolo, the club’s senior vice president and assistant general manager, was named interim GM on Sunday night and will oversee all aspects of baseball operations, including the MLB draft.
The Nationals are 37-53, last in the National League East standings after getting swept by the Boston Red Sox this weekend at home. Washington hasn’t finished higher than fourth in the division since winning the 2019 World Series.
Washington has a 325-473 record since the start of the 2020 season, only better than the Colorado Rockies.
Field Level Media contributed to this report.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike