But the PAC-12 media deal is holding everything back. SDSU has to notify the MWC by June 30 if they intend to leave the conference, if they notify after that date then the exit payment doubles and they are publicly on the record that they can’t afford that.

So SDSU wants to join the Pac-12, has a deadline that they need to get it done by, but the Pac-12 can’t commit yet. So they sent a letter to the MWC earlier this week that said “hey, we are probably going to leave, kinda. Can we talk about the June 30th deadline, 1) can it be pushed back a month; 2) can we negotiate down the amount we owe; 3) can we ultimately pay it in installments?

The MWC responded and said, ok, you have notified us that you are leaving and we will now not pay you your rights payment.

And then SDSU had to respond and say woah woah woah, we haven’t officially notified we are leaving, we told you we might do it and want to negotiate.