Utah State University is suing the Mountain West Conference over exit fees ahead of its move to the Pac-12 in 2026.
First reported by Yahoo Sports Monday morning, USU and Colorado State University — both of which are leaving the Mountain West to join the Pac-12, along with Boise State, Fresno State and San Diego State — have filed a legal complaint in the Colorado District Court in Denver.
Per Ross Dellenger, the schools argue in the lawsuit that the exit fees being requested by the Mountain West, estimated to be between $19-38 million per school, depending on how much notice they gave the MW ahead of their moves to the Pac-12, are “invalid and unenforceable.”
USU and CSU “accuse the Mountain West of ‘secretly amending’ league bylaws during clandestine meetings held without the five departing members present. They also accuse commissioner Gloria Nevarez of striking ‘side deals’ to enrich existing conference members — such as UNLV and Air Force — with the exit fees from those departing schools,” Dellenger writes.
The complaint falls in line with a letter that the five departing MW schools sent to the conference and Nevarez in November, which was made available to the public on social media by Yahoo Sports on Monday.
In it, the schools state: “The Conference’s attempt to impose the Exit Fee on the Five Institutions is improper and unenforceable. The exit fee, which is completely untethered to any harm to the Conference from a member’s departure, is clearly designed to punish departing members and is therefore invalid as a matter of law.”
It isn’t unusual for schools to attempt to get out of paying exit fees to conferences on their way to a new one.
Clemson and Florida State are currently embroiled in lawsuits with the Atlantic Coast Conference centered on media distribution rights and conference exit fees, with both schools seeking to leave the ACC sooner rather than later in hopes of joining a league with a more lucrative media rights deal, namely the Big Ten or SEC.
Mountain West schools that are leaving the conference in 2026 are currently expected to have to pay two fees when they leave for the Pac-12: the aforementioned exit fees — the basis of USU’s and CSU’s lawsuit — plus fees levied against the Pac-12 for poaching MW schools, which are expected to range between $10 and $12 million.
Those poaching fees are currently the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by the Pac-12.
Altogether, the exit and poaching fees — which, when combined to include the five schools that are leaving the MW, add up to over $100 million (closer to $150 million, according to The Athletic) — are expected to provide the majority of the funds that the MW promised to schools like Air Force and UNLV in order to entice those schools to stay after Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State San Diego State and Utah State announced they were leaving, per the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Both Air Force and UNLV received signing bonuses from the MW for more than $20 million, per The Athletic, funds that are reliant on the windfall that the conference expects to receive from the five schools leaving the conference.
Beyond the courts, both the Pac-12 and the MW have been battling for new members too.
The Pac-12 offered UNLV at the same time it offered Utah State membership, but the Las Vegas-based university elected to remain in the MW, where USU elected to join the Pac-12.
The Pac-12 has since added Gonzaga to its ranks, but needs to add at least one more school that sponsors college football — by 2026 — in order for the conference to be a viable one at the FBS level and be eligible for the College Football Playoff.
The MW, meanwhile, has added Hawaii as a full-time member, UTEP as a full-time member and Grand Canyon and UC Davis in all sports except football.
With its additions, the MW has eight football sponsoring schools, which means it will continue to exist as an FBS conference.
When Utah State announced its move to the Pac-12, athletic director Diana Sabau told the Deseret News that the university had managed to raise significant funds related to paying the exit and poaching fees.
“We have had tremendous support, regionally, locally, and from around the state,” Sabau said. “Which I am just really thankful for. There are individuals, constituents, from all around the state that were really excited about the possibility and prospect of Utah State, joining such a legacy conference.”
The university’s lawsuit against the MW, along with the Pac-12 conference’s lawsuit, could go a long way in alleviating the financial burden of joining the Pac-12, though. If said lawsuits are successful.
