Mountain West announces new media rights deal for new-look conference
The Mountain West announced a new media rights deal featuring CBS Sports, Fox Sports, the CW Network and Kiswe on Tuesday.
The new agreement will begin this year and commits the league to CBS Sports, Fox Sports and Kiswe for six years through the 2031‑32 season, while the CW Network signed a five-year partnership through the 2030‑31 season.
Financial details were not released, but the Mountain West is in the final season of a six-year, $270 million deal with CBS and Fox. The new deal comes after the new-look conference is set to debut next season in football with UNLV, Air Force, Hawaii, UNR, New Mexico, Northern Illinois, San Jose State, UTEP and Wyoming.
Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a release that the agreement is “the broadest media distribution plan in the conference’s history.”
The Pac-12, which will include five former Mountain West schools beginning next season, introduced a similar new media rights deal in July.
CBS will be the Pac-12’s primary broadcaster and air the conference’s football and men’s basketball championships.
CBS Sports Network will televise games for both leagues, which remain in litigation over “poaching penalties” stemming from Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Utah State leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12.
Win for women’s basketball
In the 2026-27 season, the CW will air 13 regular-season football games, 20 regular-season men’s basketball games and 15 regular-season women’s basketball games.
According to the release, the number of games on the CW marks an “unprecedented level of national exposure for Mountain West women’s basketball, reflecting the sport’s rapid rise and expanding visibility across the conference.”
CBS Sports Network will broadcast 15 regular-season Mountain West football games and 18 regular-season men’s basketball games with at least one football game set for national TV, CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+.
CBS Sports Network will also maintain the Mountain West basketball tournament quarterfinals and semifinals, while the CBS Television Network will remain the home of the men’s basketball championship game, as it has since 2013.
Two regular-season women’s basketball games will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network each season, along with the women’s basketball championship game.
Rights have not changed for the Mountain West football championship game, in which UNLV has appeared for the past three years. Fox retains exclusive rights, as it did in the previous deal. The network will also feature 12 regular-season MW football games annually on Fox, FS1 and FS2.
Twenty regular-season men’s basketball games also will be dispersed across those channels each season.
New paid app
Free games on the Mountain West app will go away in 2026, as the league debuts a new app in partnership with Kiswe.
The updated platform will be the exclusive streaming option for any athletics content that is not set for distribution on linear TV. Subscription revenue will be paid out to member schools.
Access to the app will begin this fall through Prime Video.
“Moving to a subscription model allows us to reinvest in smarter technology, richer content and a more personalized experience for every user,” Nevarez said in the release. “It comes with built‑in, unlimited revenue upside.”
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Callie__Fin on X.
