Northern Illinois will earn more than $34 million next 6 seasons in Mountain West

Northern Illinois’ move to the Mountain West as a football-only member will earn the school more than $34 million over the next six seasons, based on documents obtained by On3. NIU’s estimated overall revenue from the Mountain West will be about $5.7 million annually from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2032.

The Huskies also will receive a $1.5 million signing bonus from the Mountain West, which will pay up to $2.5 million for NIU’s exit fee buyout to leave the Mid-American, On3 has learned.

In January, NIU announced that it was leaving the Mid-American Conference to become a football-only member of the Mountain West Conference, effective July 1, 2026. NIU later announced the majority of its non-football sports would move to the Horizon League.

After NIU’s announcement to leave the Mid-American Conference after nearly 40 years, there were questions about the decision. However, based on documents between the Mountain West and NIU, the Huskies’ decision was for financial reasons.

NIU’s seven-page membership agreement with the Mountain West, obtained by On3 through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveals that:

* NIU will receive a $1.5 million signing bonus “incentive payment” from the Mountain West to be paid between July 1-31, 2026.

* The Mountain West will cover the cost of NIU’s exit fee from the MAC, up to $2.5 million.

* The Mountain West estimates NIU will receive between $2.3 million and $2.6 million in media rights revenue alone in 2026-27 from the league, with that amount expected to increase by 10 percent in the following seasons.

* As a football-only member, NIU will receive 75 percent of a full Mountain West member’s share in 2026-27, increasing to 85 percent of a full member’s share from 2027-2031. However, NIU will only be required to pay 30 percent of full member dues to the MW, estimated at $220,000 per year.

* NIU signed and agreed to be bound to the Mountain West’s Grant of Rights agreement. 

* NIU must pay the Mountain West a $2 million entrance fee, split into six payments of $333,333.25 on each July 1 from 2026 to 2031.

* The Mountain West is requiring NIU to increase its football budget to at least $13.5 million before the start of the 2026 football season and at least $15 million before the beginning of the 2027 season. Last season, NIU spent $13.1 million on its football program, according to WinAD.

Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez, who wouldn’t disclose how NIU’s membership agreement compared with other incoming new members, said there was not a lot of pushback to add a new school outside the league’s traditional Western footprint.

“You have to look at it collectively,” Nevarez told On3. “How does it look concerning travel? We are an airplane league, but we are pretty good at minimizing things we can control, such as back-to-back road games. (Adding schools outside the footprint) was a very in-depth discussion.”

As a football-only member in the Mountain West, the Huskies’ football team will experience more travel in their four road league games than they did in the MAC. However, NIU won’t be required to play Tuesday or Wednesday nights as the MAC teams do. NIU is about 1,250 miles away, on average, from its other seven conference members (excluding Hawaii). Alvarez said each school may configure its non-conference travel schedule to offset any travel concerns from its conference road games.

NIU President Lisa Freeman and NIU Athletic Director Sean Frazier declined comment to On3.

However, Frazier, in an open letter to NIU’s fanbase posted on the school’s website in March, said the Huskies would immediately save $500,000 by moving its non-football sports to the Horizon League.

“I can without question say that the move to the Mountain West Conference for the 2026 football season will SIGNIFICANTLY and immediately improve our financial position,” Frazier wrote in March. “In addition, NIU will see at least a half million dollars in expense reduction on DAY ONE in the Horizon League.”

The “significant” revenue increase for NIU moving from the MAC to the Mountain West is about $4 million annually, according to federal tax records and a Mountain West school’s Board of Trustees.

Last year at a University of Wyoming Board of Trustees meeting, the school disclosed that Mountain West revenues distributed were $69 million in the 2024 fiscal year or $5.75 million per school. Based on the latest available federal tax records, filed by the respective conferences, the Mountain West reported $92.8 million in revenue for the 2024 fiscal year. The MAC reported $36.6 million for the 2023 fiscal year.

The difference between the two conferences’ television deals is more than $30 million, according to those federal tax records. The Mountain West reported $43.5 million in television revenue, compared to $10.1 million for the MAC.

Nevarez said adding NIU was key to the league’s current media rights negotiations, which, when completed, will begin in 2026.

“We love the addition of a fourth time zone (Central) in the third-largest media market (Chicago) in the country in the year that we are going to market for our media rights,” Nevarez said.

Besides NIU, the Mountain West will add UTEP and Hawaii as full members (Hawaii previously was a football-only member) and also Grand Canyon and UC Davis as non-football members. 

“There’s a lot that went into (adding NIU) – having nine (league members) vs. eight was very attractive,” Nevarez said. “We always acknowledge football is different and you can stretch your boundaries a little bit. All of our additions stretch time zones, inventory and add new fan bases.”

The Mountain West added those schools after Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Utah State announced they were leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12 in 2026.

Nevarez said “never say never” about the Mountain West expanding further. “We’re definitely on pause for now – until we get through our media rights (negotiations) and get our new schools on-boarded in 2026,” she said.

Below is the final two pages of NIU’s membership agreement with Mountain West, signed on Jan. 8, 2025, obtained by On3.