The San Diego State-Mountain West soap opera took another turn on Monday. This twisting, turning theater of the absurd just gets weirder the more it continues.
You know that San Diego State sent a letter to the Mountain West on June 13 in which it stated that it was not formally asking to leave the conference but was considering its options in realignment and wanted more time to make its decision. San Diego State, if it left the Mountain West by June 30, would have been on the hook for $16.5 million in exit fees. If it left the conference after June 30, that figure would roughly double to $34 million.
The suspense attached to SDSU’s situation flowed from the Pac-12’s lingering inability to finalize its new media rights deal, which industry experts say will be done by July 21, which is Pac-12 media day. The general point of agreement among a lot of commentators was that San Diego State wanted to wait for the Pac-12 to finalize its deal and then extend an invitation.
The Pac-12 still has not finalized its deal, however. Meanwhile, the June 30 deadline came and went. San Diego State said on June 30 that it intended to remain in the Mountain West for the time being.
So, SDSU will stay in the Mountain West, right? The Aztecs aren’t going to leave now, in July, because that would mean the $34 million exit fee instead of the $16.5 million fee. The Aztecs have said they can’t afford to pay the $34 million (double) fee.
The latest news in this saga is that the Mountain West isn’t accepting San Diego State’s June 30 declaration that it is staying in the conference. The Mountain West is treating the earlier June 13 letter as a formal declaration of departure from the conference.
Say what?
That’s right: A letter SDSU said was just exploratory and not an official declaration of departure is being viewed as a true statement of departure by the Mountain West. On the surface, it seems like a huge disagreement and an irreparable situation.
SDSU sent a letter to the Mountain West before the June 30 deadline saying it is staying in the conference. One problem: The Mountain West says it already left and now owes an exit fee estimated at $17 million.https://t.co/bbqiDbmIrR
— Mark Zeigler (@sdutzeigler) July 4, 2023
Yet, from this clouded picture of disagreement and mixed signals could come the solution all parties can agree with.
If San Diego State thinks it hasn’t left the Mountain West and should owe zero in exit fees (because it hasn’t exited, in its own view of the situation), but the Mountain West thinks San Diego State has left and should owe $16.5 million in exit fees (because the June 13 letter was before the June 30 deadline).
You will note that the Mountain West is not asking for the double exit fee of $34 million.
San Diego State could simply say, “We don’t think we left the Mountain West, but hey, if you (the Mountain West) think we’ve left, we’ll just wait for the Pac-12 to finalize its media deal. Then we’ll get an invitation. Then we’ll join the Pac-12. Then we’ll happily pay the $16.5 million exit fee.”
San Diego State leaves but doesn’t pay the maximum exit fee.
The Mountain West gets an exit fee and yet doesn’t seem like the bad guy in all of this.
Both sides save face and can move on without costly litigation.
Sounds like a win-win.
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