MWC pauses expansion amidst media rights talks

Jul 16, 2025, 09:21 PM ET LAS VEGAS– The Mountain West Conference, in the procedure of going through a major membership shift, will “pause” including new schools, commissioner Gloria Nevarez stated Wednesday at the conference’s football media days.The conference will add Grand Canyon in all sports except football beginning this year. Hawaii, which plays football in the Mountain West, will join as a full member in 2026, as will Texas-El Paso. Northern Illinois will play only football in the Mountain West and UC Davis will be a non-football member.Five schools will leave the Mountain West for the Pac-12 next year– Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State.Editor’s Picks Both conferences are in a legal dispute about poaching costs and are headed back to court after failing to reach an

agreement.”We’re going to stop briefly right now as far as extra subscription, “Nevarez said at her yearly football news conference.

“Never ever state never, however we actually wish to get through our media rights settlement, take a deep breath and after that we’ll readdress the issue.”Nevarez stated she intended to reveal a brand-new media deal soon.She likewise discussed several other subjects: The Mountain West is spending for

any costs associated with adding Grand Canyon a year early.Conference headquarters will relocate from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to

• Las Vegas in July 2026. The Mountain West has actually been in Colorado Springs because its beginning

• in 1999. Nevarez stated the Mountain West did not support conferences getting more than one automatic berth to the College Football Playoff. The Big 10 chooses such a format but has lost support from the

• SEC for that kind of model.