We love buzzwords in collegiate athletics. They’re everywhere. Some are perfect descriptors. Others … well, they’re closer to a magic spell than an actual explanation.
In realignment, you’ll hear:
- “Like-minded institutions.”
- “Fit.”
- “Travel efficiencies.”
- “Where our alumni live.”
- “Student-athlete experience.”
- “TV market.”
All great phrases. All are sometimes true. But behind the curtain, the real question is the one fans rarely see:
What does it actually cost to get into a conference?
If you’ve read me before, none of this will be new — but for fans, I want to frame this through an educational lens. Not doomsday, not conspiratorial nor dramatic. Just … here’s how expansion contracts really work. And here’s why two very strong institutions, Southern Utah University and Utah Tech University, had to navigate a pretty narrow path for long-term survival.
Because the truth is simple:
The Texas WAC schools were already moving East without their fellow institutions out West. Cal Baptist and Utah Valley found excellent homes with the Big West Conference. SUU and Utah Tech were dangerously close to becoming lone wolves. It was mutually agreed upon that both SUU and Utah Tech would not owe the WAC any exit fees, which would have been roughly $1 million.
A major credit goes to presidents Mindy Benson (SUU) and Shane Smeed (UTU), along with Big Sky commissioner Tom Wistrcill, who has led the conference since 2018, and everyone involved in getting this deal across the finish line. Without it, the trajectory would have been potentially grim for both Utah-based schools.
Now they join what I believe is the strongest top-to-bottom FCS conference in the country — the Big Sky.
But … it comes at a co$t.
Here is the language of the Utah Tech agreement:
- Paying an entrance fee of three million dollars ($3,000,000.00), due no later than October 1, 2025.
- Acknowledging that the Big Sky will provide UTU with zero ($0.00) revenue from the Conference’s media rights partners until the 2030–31 academic year.
- Acknowledging that if a Big Sky team earns additional units from the 2025–26 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Performance Fund, UTU would not be eligible for revenue sharing during the full payment schedule of those units.
- Acknowledging that UTU will receive NCAA Academic Performance Fund monies via the Big Sky’s distribution policy for that fund only after UTU has qualified to do so per the NCAA metrics, after its membership term has begun.
- Agreeing that the Big Sky is not responsible for paying any exit fees that UTU might owe another conference(s).
- Accepting to be assigned to play one fewer conference football game per season than other Big Sky members, at the discretion of the Commissioner.
- Adding, by the fall of 2026, at least two of the following men’s sports: Tennis, Indoor Track & Field, and/or Outdoor Track & Field.
There’s a lot to unpack, but let’s dive into this a bit.
1. The Fee
Unlike many modern realignment deals where conferences, especially at the P4 level, waive entrance fees and simply dock future revenue distributions, this one is purely full freight: $3 million in cash, due in one lump. That “dock-the-distribution” model is more common up top because those leagues have the TV money to absorb it. At the smaller levels, that cushion isn’t there, so the entry fee becomes the mechanism. And as much as we’d love to pretend the Ohio Valley Conference’s media check looks anything like the Big Ten’s … it doesn’t.
2. No Media Money Until 2030–31
This part follows the same modern logic — shifting the cost into delayed revenue rather than a giant cash bill. For a non-P4 league, though, the impact is far smaller because the distributions aren’t in the same universe. SMU to the ACC? Zero media revenue for nine years.
Cal and Stanford? Roughly 30 percent shares for their first stretch. Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten? Deeply discounted payouts.But hey, for those Big Ten schools, even though it’s temporarily “paused,” that $2.4 billion investment might still happen. Who needs a payout anyway?
3. Sport Additions
In August, Utah Tech announced the addition of men’s indoor and outdoor track.
Using Extra Points Library data, the lowest-funded Big Sky track program sits at around $300,000 in track and cross-country costs.
Whatever the cost of the new programs at Utah Tech, we need to remember that they are not a one-time expense but a recurring annual cost.
It’s not common for expansion to require sport additions … but it happens. This is one of those cases.
4. Scheduling Impact
Playing one fewer conference football game may seem minor, but it creates another line item:
A buy game.
Either you pay for one, or someone pays you.
And keep in mind, when you’re out West it’s a bit harder to schedule a buy game. Geography alone shrinks your options — fewer nearby teams, longer travel — and with a turnaround this quick, it becomes even more challenging.
Southern Utah
- Paying an entrance fee of three million dollars ($3,000,000.00), due no later than October 1, 2025.
- Acknowledging that the Big Sky will provide SUU with zero ($0.00) revenue from the Conference’s media-rights partners until the 2030–31 academic year.
- Acknowledging that if a Big Sky team earns additional units from the 2025–26 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Performance Fund, SUU will not be eligible for revenue sharing during the full payment schedule of those units.
- Acknowledging that SUU will receive NCAA Academic Performance Fund monies via the Big Sky’s distribution policy only after SUU has qualified based on NCAA metrics, following the start of its membership term.
- Agreeing that the Big Sky is not responsible for paying any exit fees SUU may owe to another conference.
- Accepting that SUU may be assigned to play one fewer conference football game per season than other Big Sky members, at the Commissioner’s discretion.
- Agreeing to upgrade the following SUU athletics facilities to standards set by the Big Sky, by the corresponding dates:
a. Soccer Field — by fall 2025 season
b. Softball Field — by spring 2026 season
c. Visiting Team Locker Room at the Football Stadium — by fall 2027 season
Southern Utah’s bill remains the same: $3 million in cash upfront, but the long-term capital investment required far exceeds that, though those upgrades will ultimately improve the student-athlete experience for both SUU and visiting teams. Big Sky leadership is smart and savvy enough to build these expectations directly into the agreement. And remember, SUU has been here before: when the school joined the Big Sky in 2012, its entrance fee was less than $500,000. Times have changed just a little bit.
What About Others?
When New Mexico State joined Conference USA, it paid a $1.5 million entrance fee spread over six years, along with an $85,000 WAC exit fee. Only $335,000 of that entrance fee actually came out of NMSU’s pocket, as the final four installments were pulled directly from future C-USA revenue distributions — a textbook modern model of low cash outlay and a slow revenue ramp. Utah Valley and California Baptist reportedly paid a $1.2 million entrance fee to join the Big West, while Northern Illinois, joining the Mountain West as a football-only member, agreed to a $2 million entrance fee payable in six annual installments of roughly $333,333 per year.
Conference realignment costs far more than the buzzwords suggest. Fans hear about rivalries lost, travel burdens, NIL positioning, geography mismatches, and “fit.” Institutions, however, are negotiating multimillion-dollar entrance fees, years of lost media revenue, new sports to sponsor, new facilities to build, scheduling burdens, exit fees owed to their previous league, and delayed access to NCAA unit distributions.
Realignment isn’t just musical chairs — sometimes it’s a musical balance sheet.
However you frame it, it always comes back to the favorite buzzword — these moves are all about the “fit.”
