Report: SDSU must pay legal fees after threat to exit Mountain West
San Diego State can stay in the Mountain West through the 2024-25 school year, the conference reportedly told the school, but at a price of paying legal fees stemming from its attempted exit.
The conference’s board of directors met Monday and reached that decision, although they also agreed to pay out more than $6.6 million they had withheld from the school, Yahoo Sports reported on Tuesday.
San Diego State, which had been mentioned as a possible target of the Big 12, announced its intention last month to leave the Mountain West after the upcoming school year. The departure meant triggering an exit fee of $34 million to the conference, although the school hoped to halve that fee because it announced its decision to leave before July 1.
However, when the school had no clear plans where it would land later in June, it asked the Mountain West for extra time to set its future course, without paying the higher fee. Just before the deadline, the school backtracked and said it was not leaving at all.
The conference maintained that San Diego State had already withdrawn and needed to pay the exit fee, and withheld some of the money it owed the school as an installment on that fee.
The conference made that payment on Tuesday, according to Yahoo Sports.
–Field Level Media
