Mountain West: San Diego State left the conference and owes an exit fee

Just hours before a deadline to give the Mountain West a one-year notice of departure, San Diego State reaffirmed its membership in the conference.

So everything’s copacetic?

Apparently not.

SDSU contends it never formally left. The Mountain West, however, still insists it has.

The flurry of letters between the university and conference continued over the weekend, and now lawyers are actively involved. At issue is a $6.6 million distribution share for the 2022-23 academic year that the Mountain West is withholding to defray SDSU’s exit fee, pending reinstatement by the board.

“We will discuss the status of SDSU’s membership in the conference at a July meeting of our Board of Directors,” said a July 1 letter from Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez to SDSU President Adela de la Torre, responding to de la Torre’s letter Friday saying the Aztecs were staying in the conference.

That meeting is scheduled for July 17 and won’t include de la Torre because she was removed from the board per Mountain West bylaws for a member leaving the conference,

SDSU and Mountain West officials declined comment, as they have throughout the letter-writing episode. However, a conference source said SDSU is considering its options, including legal ones.

The Aztecs will spend 2023-24 in the Mountain West; that is not disputed because any “resignation” would not take effect until July 1, 2024. But where it plays after that remains uncertain as it awaits a belated invitation from the Pac-12 or reinstatement from a conference it claims it never left.

At last count, at least six letters have been exchanged over the past three weeks. They started cordially between de la Torre and Nevarez. Now attorneys are involved and the language is filled with legalese and a more acerbic bite.

The university released the first four letters last week. The Union-Tribune obtained the fifth and sixth Monday.

Here’s a quick recap for those keeping score at home:

Letter 1: De la Torre writes Nevarez and all 11 other presidents on June 13 “to formally notice that San Diego State University intends to resign” from the conference while inquiring about flexibility in exit terms. Mountain West bylaws require an exit fee of roughly $17 million if a member provides one-year notice of departure before June 30 to the commissioner and all 11 other presidents, and double that after June 30.

“It has been an absolute joy,” de la Torre added, “to collaborate and compete with each of the member universities.”

Letter 2: Nevarez writes back confirming SDSU’s “notice of resignation” and initiates separation procedures that include removing de la Torre from the board and freezing the university’s 2022-23 distribution share as the first installment of the exit fee.

“It is with a heavy heart that we receive this news,” Nevarez wrote. “We wish you only the best in your new conference and will work with you to ensure a smooth transition.”

Letter 3: De la Torre clarifies the June 13 letter “was not the official notice of resignation,” only an attempt to open discussions about a one-month extension to the June 30 deadline and other exit terms.

Letter 4: Nevarez replies that the board “will not approve any waiver (to the bylaws) at this time” while not accepting de la Torre’s contention that SDSU never left the conference.

Letter 5: With an 11 p.m. Friday deadline approaching and no movement on an invitation from the Pac-12 or another conference, SDSU asserts it is not withdrawing from the Mountain West, which likely means it will stay put at least two more years.

“We previously advised you that SDSU had not made a final determination as to whether to resign from the Mountain West Conference,” de la Torre wrote. “I am pleased to advise you that SDSU has decided to remain in the Mountain West Conference and therefore will not be resigning at this time.”

Letter 6: The conference replies Saturday that, as the bylaws allow, is withholding a $6,602,233.48 payment due the university this week as the first installment of the exit fee “in connection with our receipt of the SDSU Notice of Resignation.”

Translation: You’re out on July 1, 2024, and you owe us $17 million.

So why the hard-line approach by the Mountain West to what many regard as its marquee member, one that just three months ago elevated the conference’s profile to new heights with a trip to the national championship game in men’s basketball?

There could be several strategies at work. One could be simple envy and retaliation over how SDSU approached a potential departure to a power conference, figuring the Aztecs have one foot out the door already so why play nice? One could be gaining leverage should SDSU try to negotiate a lowered exit fee if a Pac-12 invite for 2024-25 comes later this summer.

Another might be an attempt to broker a long-term commitment from SDSU to the conference, further milking the Aztecs for NCAA Tournament shares in men’s basketball and their value to television partners. (Their 2023 NCAA run earned the conference an estimated $10 million over the next six years.)

Also unclear is where CBS and Fox, the Mountain West’s linear television partners, stand on this. If SDSU departs the conference, the networks can restructure the media rights contract that runs through 2025-26 and theoretically pay the remaining members less without the Aztecs and the San Diego market.

Before each season, CBS and Fox select which regular-season conference basketball games they want to air on their various channels; all 18 SDSU games were selected, including two on big-boy CBS and one on Fox. Second-place Boise State had 12 of 18 selected, counting both against the Aztecs, and none on major networks. San Jose State had only six.

Whatever the Mountain West’s motive, it represents a stark and sudden shift in tone. Just months ago, Nevarez was strutting around Houston’s NRG Stadium at the Final Four wearing a bright red blazer, singing the praises to national media about the first Mountain West team to get past the Sweet 16.

“There’s so much excitement, especially in the Mountain West office, because we’re so good in basketball and to finally break through and get this far is just amazing,” Nevarez told the Associated Press in Houston. “Couldn’t be happier for San Diego State. We’re super excited.

“This is the biggest national stage in college basketball and across a lot of other sports. For us to have a team in this moment on this stage, you can’t buy this kind of advertising.”

At football media days last July, former Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson was asked about SDSU potentially being swept up by the Pac-12 in the next wave of conference realignment.

“I hope they don’t leave,” Thompson said. “They’re a great member to the league, and it’s a tremendous market for us. But I would say, ‘Congratulations. Thanks for the time, but you have a great opportunity.’”