September 26, 2024 |
Photo – Mountain West vs PAC 12 – Courtesy SuperWest Sports web page
In sports, the Pac-12 filed a federal lawsuit against the Mountain West on Wednesday claiming it should not be on the hook for over $50 million in penalties, marking another turn in this latest wave of conference realignment.
The “poaching penalties” were embedded in the scheduling agreement between the Mountain West and the two current members of the Pac-12 — Oregon State and Washington State. The agreement allowed the two teams to play a Mountain West schedule this year but offered protection to the Mountain West should the Pac-12 turn around and try to take members of the conference.
That is exactly what has played out. The Pac-12 now has agreements from Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State to join in the upcoming years.
The Mountain West, head-quarterd in Colorado Springs, CO, is standing by the agreement and expects more than $10 million per school in fees (in addition to the $17 million per institution exit fees).
In its lawsuit, The Pac-12 says the poaching penalty was “forced” upon it. It claims the fees are unlawful and unenforceable.”
“To say that the Mountain West was taking advantage of the Pac-12 could not be farther from the truth,” Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement. “The Mountain West Conference wanted to help the Pac-12 schools and student-athletes, but not at the expense of the Mountain West. The Pac-12 has taken advantage of our willingness to help them and enter into a scheduling agreement with full acknowledgment and legal understanding of their obligations. Now that they have carried out their plan to recruit certain Mountain West schools, they want to walk back what they legally agreed to. There has to be a consequence to these types of actions.”
Should the lawsuit be found to have merit, it would obviously alter the financial variables in play as the conference shifting continues to play out. Currently the Mountain West and Pac-12 have seven schools apiece, falling one short of meeting the threshold to be a recognized conference.
The Mountain West nearly had agreement from eight schools to hold firm Monday, but Utah State then left when issued an invitation from the Pac-12.
Now, UNLV is said to be rethinking its position of staying in the Mountain West. Air Force could potentially rethink its position if UNLV leaves.
The leverage the Mountain West has comes from the money — in the vicinity of $130 million — it would collect from the Pac-12 defections. If that figure drops to only the exit fees — $85 million — the situation could drastically change.
