Teams from the Mountain West converged in Las Vegas this past week for the annual media days leading up to the 2026 season. Each school brought four players rather than the traditional two of the past. The league also eliminated its preseason predicted order of finish, citing that New Mexico was perhaps impacted by late-season metrics that could have led to them being left out of the MWC title game. Here are a few takeaways from Mountain West Media Days.

New MW+ App

In an era of finding the big television and streaming deals, the MW is in essence asking its fans to create their own. The MW+ is a direct-to-consumer streaming platform, the first such app for an FBS conference. But rather than have that money go to whatever ownership may exist at the national level, approximately 60-percent of subscription revenue is expected to go back to the membership institutions. It also allows for each school to have more control over premium content and fan engagement. This puts pressure on those with ambition to push it forward, but if it works, the MW+ could be a model for other schools and conferences to follow.

Not Chasing Teams

One of the biggest questions for a league that has undergone significant realignment is are they done? For now it appears they are which may be news in itself. The football teams for the MW moving forward is Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Illinois, North Dakota State,  San Jose State, UNLV, UTEP and Wyoming. While the league has kicked the tires on certain situations, it appears they will not add for the sake of adding. Commissioner Glora Nevarez noted that they will emphasize finding institutions that strengthen the league “competitively, academically and culturally.”

Future Bowl Games

If the champion of the the MW is not selected for the College Football Playoff (CFP), the highest ranked team will be placed into a pool of six bowl games owned by ESPN. Those are, the Boca Raton Bowl (Florida), Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Puerto Rico Bowl, Armed Forces Bowl, Frisco Bowl and the New Mexico Bowl. In addition, the MW will also have two additional bowl tie-ins with the Hawaii Bowl and the Arizona Bowl. The conference will also have a backup agreement with the Cactus Bowl.

Where’s the Money?

At media days, conference officials announced that $118 million has been distributed to member institutions and a new six-year media rights agreement is in place. In addition, several teams, including the University of Wyoming, has new agreements with jersey patch sponsorships. Payouts from schools who left to rebuild the Pac-12 are upcoming but those exact numbers have not yet been released.