The Mountain West conference consists of teams from 8 states right now. California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Hawaii, make it 10 if you add WSU and OSU
Collectively the populations of those 8 states is about 59 million, and California represents 39 million of it. If you add WSU and OSU, which combined have a population of about 12 million, you increase by that number by 20%, to about 59-60 million in total population by state. Not sure how the TV execs look at it, but WSU and OSU moving to the Mtn West adds a lot of value to that conference.
And I'd much rather travel to those states, than Oklahoma, Iowa, Texas, West Virgina and Florida. As fans we have to step, throw in some dollars for the athletic department, to help maintain our programs.