Did The Pac-12 Provide A Knockout Punch To The Mountain West In Their TV Deal? Nope.

KC Smurthwaite is a consultant for Athletics Admin, specializing in revenue generation, licensing, marketing, and higher education. He has almost two decades of experience in collegiate athletics and the sports and entertainment industry. Smurthwaite is a fractional employee of several athletic departments across the country. He also teaches sports management and journalism as an adjunct professor. Follow him on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn. Smurthwaite can also be reached at [email protected].

It’s been a busy week for college football fans. July 1 came and went, leaving realignment chaos in its wake — as usual. Now that the figurative fireworks have mostly quieted down, we can finally start looking ahead to the season… at least until the next media rights announcement drops, some random Friday news shakes things up, Sacramento State figures out where it’s going, and of course — because it’s never too early — we start speculating about June 2026.

I’d even go out on a limb and say June 2026 is shaping up to deliver more drama than June 2025. Here’s to hoping BetMGM adds a line for it!

So here we are: The Mountain West and the Pac-12 (Version 2.0), are staring each other down — again — in a world that seems big enough for both, but barely. Let’s break it down. If you’re already deep in the weeds, feel free to skip ahead to the spicy stuff.

CBS is in the West… Again!

First things first: The Pac-12’s future isn’t quite as bleak as some had hoped (or feared). Starting in 2026, the Pac-12 and CBS will be dancing together on a five-year media rights deal. CBS proper will show at least three regular-season Pac-12 football games and the conference championship. Men’s basketball also gets a spotlight with at least three regular-season games and the conference tourney final. There will also be options via Paramount+.

The conference will also still show up on CBS Sports Network. Their secondary and tertiary rights have yet to be announced, but I’d imagine before the fall, it’s buttoned up and announced.

It’s not quite the massive, exclusive deal the old Pac-12 tried (and failed) to land. But right now? It’s progress. And frankly, in this realignment era, survival equals victory.

Friendly Reminder of Who is Who

The rebuilt Pac-12 looks like this: The holdovers Oregon State and Washington State, plus Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, Texas State (more on them in a sec) … and, in hoops, Gonzaga.

Gonzaga gets a full share, because of course they do — March Madness gold tends to buy you respect. Texas State is reportedly taking a half-share through 2031. But even that is a win for the Bobcats, who were making a measly $1.4–$2 million in the Sun Belt. Half of a Pac-12 share still beats full Sun Belt money.

Oh, and those $18 million Mountain West exit fees? The Pac-12 agreement seems to quietly hint that the league might cover at least part of it. From the agreement: The schools agreed to take responsibility for all debts, obligations and legal fees as a result of departing its previous conference (the MW schools owe a roughly $18 million exit fee); a subhead under this section is redacted and seems to indicate the Pac-12 will cover a portion of these fees.

So … Is the Mountain West Screwed?

No. Absolutely not.

Look, we’ve all seen the wild narratives floating around on social media or pushed by beat reporters still on the Pac-12 payroll. These stories — often seeded by PR firms hired to undermine the Mountain West’s value — suggest they’re working behind the scenes to keep other networks away. Is that true? I don’t know. But PR 101 says you always need a spin, and that’s a pretty good one. 

Is that spin actually true? Absolutely not.

Yes, CBS probably isn’t coming back as a primary partner. And yes, some of the top brands are gone. But the Mountain West still owns something every network wants: live, western football content. Especially in those late-night Hawai‘i windows. That inventory is still valuable.

We’re in a sports media world where even Netflix is kicking the tires on live college rights. Apple has dipped its toe in. ESPN and Fox are still fighting over everything. There’s no reason the Mountain West can’t sell what it has to one (or several) of them — even if the payout isn’t Pac-12-level, it’s still going to be better than nothing.

In fact, don’t be surprised if the Mountain West’s next deal improves slightly. As I have pointed out multiple times (here and here) and Chris Murray pointed out as well: Media rights values have only gone up in its history. Content is still king.

These values just don’t go down when bigger schools leave. Look at all the realignment from the last 20 years. You’ll find the numbers keep increasing. 

Scheduling Woes and What’s Next

Of course, both leagues have headaches.

For the Pac-12, it’s football scheduling. You can’t play an eight-team round-robin forever. It’s messy. Sacramento State has been floated as a solution, but industry sources have indicated that it’s not going to happen. I could see potentially having the Hornets be a one-year punching bag affiliate, but nothing beyond that. 

New Mexico State? Maybe. Put on your reality glasses when you think about it. Memphis? Tulane? UTSA? All of those were possibilities … once. Emphasis on possibilities. But when the numbers and estimates came out, they were gone. So we can move on from that. The numbers financially don’t make sense. 

Could Memphis join a conference as a football-only member? Sources suggest the Big East doesn’t even want Memphis as a basketball-only (and non-FB sports) addition, given the mismatch between its financial situation and the Big East’s basketball-first identity. As one industry insider put it: “They’d help in basketball, sure. But remember, TV contracts are usually 85–90% football value. Even for Memphis, it doesn’t work out from a media standpoint.”

Additionally, it might not benefit Memphis basketball because they are entering a league where all the schools don’t have football and can allocate a lot more of their revenue share to their basketball programs. Putting Memphis basketball at a big disadvantage.

So the Pac-12 is going to have to get creative, either with one-off football-only additions (that geographically don’t make sense), more aggressive expansion, or — and this is very possible — staying put for a little while and hoping someone else’s problems create opportunities later.

The MWC’s Wild Card

The Mountain West, meanwhile, can take its time. There’s no rush. They don’t have a media deal yet, and in a way, that’s actually a small advantage. They can see where the Pac-12 lands with its secondary and tertiary partners, gauge demand, and pitch their own content accordingly.

Supply and demand still rule here. And with every other Western league tied up, the Mountain West can position itself as the last viable outlet for Western football. That kind of scarcity can bump up the price.

I’ll say it one more time. We can’t act like there’s only CBS sports streaming college football content out west. 

Why Both Leagues Still Matter

Here’s the thing no one fan out West wants to say: both the Pac-12 and the Mountain West still matter.

The Pac-12’s new lineup? Better top-to-bottom than the old Mountain West. No question. They’ll make more money, and their brands carry more weight.

But the Mountain West still serves a purpose — and still holds value — because there’s only so much Western content to go around. Networks and streamers still need to fill those late-night slots, and still need live football on Saturdays. And somebody’s got to play those games.

In other words: there’s room for both. And that’s probably good for everyone.

The Big Picture

So, where does that leave us?

The Pac-12 made a smart, realistic move by locking in CBS and adding brands that improve its profile while keeping the door open for future member schools.

The Mountain West, meanwhile, isn’t toast — it’s just waiting to see what the market brings.

And for fans? It means another couple of years of realignment drama, wild rumors, and message board meltdowns.

So grab your popcorn and keep your betting slips handy. If the past week has shown us anything, it’s that nothing stays quiet for long.