It's in the article we already produced. It's a direct comment from the company hired to do the risk analysis for what programs to add and how to convince them to leave. Your commissioner tried to pound her chest as a "look at my chess moves" moment in that article. Whiles there's not official terms really made known, it's been widely discussed that your conference committed to paying their exit fees.
"Unlike when the initial deal was signed with Kliavkoff in charge, OSU and WSU were now in control of the Pac-12 assets -- they secured roughly $250 million when the departures were finalized -- and had more time to make alternative scheduling plans for 2025. When it became clear the Sept. 1 deadline to extend the agreement would pass, the Pac-12 became more serious about attempting a true rebuild.
Much of the vetting of potential candidates and outreach was handled by Navigate, a private sports consulting firm, sources said. The Pac-12 would be willing to help fund the exit fees, the schools were told, which took away the primary risk factor. Had the four been required to come up with a combined $72 million on their own, it would have been much more difficult to justify the jump -- especially without a firm understanding of what kind of media deal the new-look conference could command.
The schools also knew to expect the Mountain West to attempt to withhold media rights distributions for departing schools over the next two years -- roughly $5 million per school, per year -- as it did when BYU, TCU and Utah all left in 2011. It's unclear what the total cost will be to the schools and Pac-12 to the Mountain West when the dust settles."
