What is the exit fee for AAC and MWC conferences? Analyzing options for Pac-12 hoping to rebuild the Pac

No conference has been hit harder by conference realignment than the Pac-12. Eight of the conference's 12 schools have announced their intentions to leave the conference ahead of the 2024 season. The decision has left conference officals scrambling as they look to rebuild the conference.

The Washington State Cougars are one of the four teams that have not announced their plans to leave the conference.

In comments shared by Brett McMurphy of The Action Network, Cougars president Kirk Schulz discussed the program's options with Enrique Cerna. McMurphy tweeted:

"Washington State president Kirk Schulz tells @enriquecerna, WSU has 3 options: join Mountain West, join AAC or rebuild Pac-12. 'The third option would be to sort of reconstitute or rebuild the Pac – I'll say Pac-X right now, there's 4 members left, but that could change literally w/in hours,' Schulz said. 'And so I think each of those we're pursuing in a parallel pathway & we want to evaluate what's going to be best for WSU.'"

Check out Brett McMurphy's tweet here.

One response to McMurphy's tweet pointed out that exit fees could prevent Mountain West and American Athletic Conference schools from joining the conference, making rebuilding efforts difficult:

"So here’s the problem. Both the AAC and MW have large exit fees that only get bigger the shorter the notice. Neither the schools nor the PAC 4 can afford that. Reconstituting the PAC will be hard especially with no TV deal. The only course of action is a merger with either."

Check out the response to Brett McMurphy here.

What is the exit fee for Pac-12 targets from the Mountain West and AAC?

Mountain West programs would have to pay the conference $34 million to leave ahead of the 2024 season. While that number would drop to $17 million if they wait until 2025, the Pac-12 only has four member schools for the 2024 season, ensuring that it cannot afford to wait another year.

AAC programs are required to give the conference a 27-month notice and pay a $10 million exit fee. The Cincinnati Bearcats, Houston Cougars and UCF Knights recently negotiated their departure by paying an $18 million exit fee to join the Big 12 ahead of the 2023 season.

It remains unclear how interested schools from the Mountain West or American Athletic Conference are in joining the Pac-12. The conference's inability to land a long-term media rights deal, which led to the departure of eight schools, could hinder their rebuilding efforts.