from the Sun Belt<\/a>. The document is dated May 30, a month before the Pac-12 announced it will add Texas State in 2026. The school released it this week through a public records request.<\/p>\n\u201cWe would be honored to be invited to join the Pac-12, but we are not just interested in joining as a free-rider,\u201d the school wrote in the conference\u2019s membership information request. \u201cWe intend to invest in our athletics programs so that the Pac-12 will be just as proud to have us as a member.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conference sought information in concrete areas (facilities, investments) and abstract ideas (philosophical alignment and aspirations). The school\u2019s answers included a rare public peek at revenue-sharing payments with players.<\/p>\n
The Bobcats\u2019 revenue-sharing budget across all sports is expected to grow from $4 million in the 2026 fiscal year to $7.2 million in 2029. Football\u2019s pool will almost double (from $2.5 million to $4.9 million). Men\u2019s basketball will increase from $600,000 to $1.1 million.<\/p>\n
The school also planned to double its $9.5 million athletic subsidy in the 2026 fiscal year and increase it by 20 percent each of the next five years. It expects $75 million in capital gifts over the next decade, with facilities upgrades including a $45 million new suite\/club area at UFCU Stadium and $25 million indoor practice facility. Construction is expected to start on both projects around 2027.<\/p>\n
The document touted Texas State\u2019s \u201cunwavering\u201d commitment to football, citing GJ Kinne\u2019s position as the Sun Belt\u2019s highest-paid coach and promising future investments that would \u201cposition the program for long-term success in the Pac-12.\u201d That sport\u2019s budget is projected to expand from $14.1 million to $20 million from 2024-27.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough strategic investments, an innovative revenue-sharing model, and a renewed commitment to elevating our basketball programs, we are determined to separate TXST from its non-autonomy peers, and to elevate our standing to compete alongside the state\u2019s autonomy institutions,\u201d the document said. \u201cTXST is ready to partner with the Pac-12 and to contribute to its own ambitious future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Texas State\u2019s goals (key performance indicators, in the pitch\u2019s business terms) included: at least four conference titles in football with one College Football Playoff appearance in the next decade; a combined seven (or more) NCAA Tournament appearances in men\u2019s\/women\u2019s basketball; posting a winning record against Group of 5 in-state peers such as UTSA, Rice and North Texas while competing on the recruiting trail against Houston, TCU, SMU and Texas Tech.<\/p>\n
Texas State repeatedly pitched the Pac-12 on its demographics and geography.\u00a0 The university aims to grow enrollment from 41,000 last fall to 50,000. Its home campus, San Marcos, is between Austin and San Antonio and within 250 miles of Houston and Dallas\/Fort Worth. Its addition would give the Pac-12 a \u201cpowerful foothold in Texas and access to new audiences eager for high-level competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is our time to join forces with the Pac-12 to build something extraordinary together,\u201d the school wrote. \u201cTXST brings unmatched momentum from the heart of America\u2019s fastest-growing states. We are ready to help fuel Pac-12\u2019s resurgence with our relentless spirit, massive Texas recruiting base and fanbase, along with our growing academic and athletic prestige. To us, this is more than joining a new conference; it is about building a shared future with kindred institutions united by a common mission and purpose. Together, we can create something bold and enduring, grounded in shared values and a deep belief in the power of education and athletics to transform lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bobcats\u2019 submission is more detailed than similar documents reviewed by The Athletic. Boise State\u2019s application to the Pac-12 in September 2024 was a one-page letter outlining its top athletic accomplishments and recent graduation rates. San Diego State\u2019s submission was similar. Northern Illinois (football-only) and Hawaii (full membership) did not submit formal applications to join the Mountain West, according to the schools.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How does a school pitch itself to bigger leagues in the world of conference realignment? With ambitious goals,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":326882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1428,1318,1317,1315,1316,62,9720,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-326881","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-texas-state-bobcats","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115424396838513732","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}