What is the exit fee for Texas State to join the Pac-12? Conference realignment deadlines, exit fee rules and more

Texas State has emerged as the latest candidate in the Pac-12’s ongoing expansion efforts. The century-old conference began the rebuild last summer, following its collapse at the end of the 2023 season that saw 10 of the 12 members depart for other conferences.

ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel reports that the Bobcats officials have sent a notification to the Sun Belt Conference of an anticipated offer from the Pac-12 soon. The discussion between the school and the conference has intensified in the last 24 hours.

What will be the exit fee for Texas State to join the Pac-12?

Should the Pac-12 extend an offer to Texas State before the end of the week, the Bobcats would pay the Sun Belt $5 million as an exit fee to leave in 2026. This is considerably lower than what new Pac-12 members paid to leave their conferences.

However, the exit fee would double to $10 million if the Bobcats fail to submit their exit notification to the conference before July 1, should they decide to leave in 2026.

The addition of Texas State is expected to be one of the most cost-effective moves for the Pac-12 in the expansion. The conference won’t have to pay the Sun Belt any fee, unlike the financial obligations tied to adding Mountain West programs, where it owes around $10–12 million per team due to a scheduling agreement.

Pac-12 is committed to adding its eighth football member

After sealing a media rights deal, which runs until 2031, with CBS on Monday, the Pac-12 is now committed to adding its eighth football member. The conference commissioner, Teresa Gould, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Yogi Roth of the Y-Option Substack.

“I’ve been saying all along that once we get our media rights to completion, or to near-completion — enough where we have a sense of who our patterns are and what the economics look like — we would then pivot back to our membership strategy. And I think we’re at that point,” Gould said.

While the Pac-12 has eight members, Gonzaga doesn't play football. This means the conference has to add one more football-playing school before the start of the 2026 season. That's where Texas State comes in, with both parties looking to finalize the deal soon.

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash