Pac-12 sues Mountain West for ‘poaching penalty’ as conferences battle in latest realignment cycle
The Pac-12 filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Mountain West, seeking a $100,000 fine. The complaint, filed in the Northern District of California, alleges the potential penalty is unenforceable under antitrust law.
When the Pac-12 reached a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West last year, the MWC added the poaching fee as a poison pill in case the Pac-12 tried to pull schools from the league. As part of the deal, the Pac-12 is required to pay more than $10 million per school in damages, which is separate from the $17 million exit fee the schools must pay.
In recent weeks, the league has added five schools from the Mountain West region: Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Utah State. Under the deal, the Pac-12 would have to pay more than $50 million before even factoring in each school’s exit fee.
“The MWC imposed this poaching penalty at a time when the Pac-12 was desperate to schedule football games for its two remaining members and had little leverage to overturn this blatant restriction on competition,” the Pac-12 wrote in its filing. “But that does not make the poaching penalty any less illegal, and the Pac-12 asks the court to declare this provision invalid and unenforceable.”
The poaching penalty is set to be in effect at least through Aug. 1, 2027. The timing is unusual since the Mountain West’s television contracts are set to expire in 2026. Additionally, the Pac-12 must add schools to reach the minimum of eight participants to be recognized as an FBS conference by 2026. With the five additions from the Mountain West, the league is at seven. The Mountain West also has seven schools after the moves.
While the lawsuit is motivated by significant financial liabilities, strategy is more important than compensation. The next step in realignment hinges on whether UNLV decides to stay in the Mountain West or move to the Pac-12. Simply put, the Rebels may want to be on the side that sues rather than being sued. UNLV had previously planned to commit to the Mountain West, but after Utah State’s departure reduced the league to seven permanent members, all options are back on the table. Both leagues need UNLV to reach the NCAA minimum of eight teams.
“I don’t see why UNLV would stay in the Mountain West now,” sports law attorney Mit Winter told CBS Sports.
UNLV is trying to figure out the best way forward after being a member of the Mountain West since 1999. The MWC was formed that year after the 16-team Western Athletic Conference dissolved. The Pac-12 would owe UNLV $12.5 million for being the sixth school poached from the MWC.
Poaching Fees Based on Pac-12/MWC Agreement
- First Team – $10 Million
- Second Team – $10.5 million
- Third Team – $11 million
- Fourth Team – $11.5 million
- Fifth Team – $12 Million
- Sixth team – $12.5 million.
The Pac-12 signed this deal in good faith — much like Florida State and Clemson signed the ACC’s rights agreement, twice, before suing the conference.
“They (Pac-12) are basically arguing that they had no choice, that they were under duress,” Minter said. “Their best argument might be that it’s an unenforceable penalty. When you have a liquidated damages clause like that, it can’t be unreasonable or it’s considered an unenforceable penalty.”
“The agreement that they (Pac-12) signed is partly illegal,” Winter added. “That’s an argument that people use a lot.”
The other Pac-12 schools — Oregon State and Washington State — and the Mountain West reached a scheduling agreement ahead of the 2024 season to help create a roster for the two late bloomers. The Pac-12’s other 10 historic members eventually joined the powerhouse conference leagues. As part of the deal, the Pac-12 schools paid the Mountain West $14 million for 12 games.
The agreement included an option to extend for the second year, but both schools had to opt in to the deal. Ultimately, the opt-in period expired without an extension. The Mountain West demanded $30 million to extend the contract, according to the filing. The lawsuit alleges that Oregon State and Washington State essentially signed the deal under duress, even though they believed the poaching fee was unenforceable because they had so little time to come up with a full schedule.
“There is no legitimate justification for the ‘poaching penalty,’” the complaint said. “In fact, the MWC already seeks to impose tens of millions of dollars in ‘exit fees’ on MWC schools that leave the conference. To the extent that the MWC would be harmed by the departure of its member schools, this exit fee is more than adequate compensation to the MWC.”
Historically, during the realignment era, when exit fees are challenged by one side, both sides settle for about 65%. This is believed to be the first time one FBS conference has sued another over realignment. There were threats of tortious interference when the Pac-12 and SEC went after Big 12 schools during the 2010 realignment era, but it never reached this point.
