San Diego State's June 30 deadline looms as Pac-12 looks to secure media rights deals
The word "deadline" has been more of an ignored suggestion for the Pac-12 over the last year.
Following the departure of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, the conference out west has been trying their best to figure out their place in this new college football world. A world that has seen the Big 12 go from being on life support and having teams beg to join the Pac-12, to now the Big 12 is circling like blood thirsty sharks waiting to poach schools from the Pac-12.
When the subject of expansion comes up in regards to the Pac-12 there have been numerous teams suggested, but only three have been confirmed as targets. Of those three which include SMU, San Diego State and Colorado State there is one program in San Diego State that stands out as a no-brainer for the conference. It would give the Pac-12 access to the Southern California market that they lost, and also adds a program that is competitive in both basketball and football.
However, while the Pac-12 has been dragging their feet and struggling in the boardroom to land a media rights deal which they have expressed is priority No. 1 over expansion, there is a very important deadline looming over them. Now, the conference hasn't shown that they actually care about adhering to deadlines as there have been at least four or five deadlines that have come and gone without semblance of a deal. This deadline is different though, and it pertains to San Diego State.
As reported by the San Diego Tribune, even the Mountain West itself thought it would have happened by now as new commissioner Gloria Nevarez expected it to happen when she took the job.
“When I first took the job,” new Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said, “I expected it to happen any day, any week, after Jan. 1.”
That deadline obviously came and went, as did the no later than the Final Four deadline, and now midsummer is being thrown around. A deadline that can end up costing San Diego State far more money than they are willing to spend. As explained by the Tribune's Mark Zeigler the Aztecs need to notify the Mountain West by June 30 if they plan to leave for the 2024-25 academic year. If they don't? Their exit fee of $17 million could double.
While this is concerning to those around the Pac-12 and even the country, someone who is not shaken is San Diego State President Adela de la Torre who is confident that the importance of a West Coast conference will prevail, and when asked about being worried said she's not.
No, I’m not at all,” she said. “I don’t have even an ounce of doubt about that. And that’s because I truly believe you have a conference that really believes in having a West Coast presence, a presence that really is the West. Just like there were doubters about our basketball team, I think the doubters of the Pac-12 will be plausibly surprised in the future as well.
The Big 12 has also expressed interest in adding San Diego State, but it has been made clear that they far prefer to join the Pac-12. It is just a matter of when the Pac-12 will figure things out on their end, which seems simple in theory but has been an ongoing issue since July.
