Pac-12 files lawsuit in federal court over ‘poaching penalty’

The Pac-12 filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday challenging the legality of a “poaching penalty” included in a football scheduling agreement it signed with the Mountain West Conference in December.

As Oregon State and Washington State sought late last year to fill out their 2024 football schedules in the wake of the Pac-12 collapse, they reached a one-year agreement with the Mountain West that added six MWC opponents to each remaining Pac-12 school’s schedule this season.

As part of the agreement, the Mountain West included language requiring the Pac-12 to pay a $10 million fee if an MWC school leaves the Pac-12, with $500,000 in increases for each additional school.

“This action challenges the MWC’s anti-competitive and illegal ‘poaching’ penalty imposed on the Pac-12 to prevent competition among member schools in college athletics,” the lawsuit says. “The ‘poaching’ penalty burdens the Pac-12 with exorbitant and punitive financial costs for participating in competition by admitting MWC member schools into the Pac-12.

“The MWC imposed this poaching penalty at a time when the Pac-12 was desperate to schedule football games for its remaining members and had little leverage to reject this blatant restriction on competition.”

When Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State announced on Sept. 12 that they would leave the Mountain West to join the Pac-12, the Pac-12 was expected to pay a $43 million fee, as outlined in the scheduling agreement. That number jumped to $55 million on Monday after Utah State also accepted an offer to leave the Mountain West to join the Pac-12.

The same day it was announced, Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez sent an email to Scott Petersmeier, the Pac-12’s chief legal officer, indicating the Pac-12’s “commitment” to pay $43 million within 30 days.

Pac-12 Commissioner Theresa Gold responded to Nevarez’s email Tuesday notifying her of the lawsuit, noting the conference’s position that the fees are illegal.

“Essentially, these provisions seek to prevent competition by imposing exorbitant and punitive financial fees on the Pac-12 simply for participating in competition by admitting MWC member schools into the Pac-12,” Gold’s letter reads. “As you know, the MWC imposed these improper sanctions over the Pac-12’s objection 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 clear restriction on competition.”

In response to the lawsuit, Nevarez issued a statement Tuesday afternoon taking issue with the Pac-12’s description of the charges.

“This provision was put in place to protect the Mountain West Conference from exactly this scenario,” she said. “It was clear to us and everyone across the country that the remaining members of the Pac-12 would attempt to rebuild. The fees involved were included to ensure the future viability of the Mountain West and to allow our member institutions to continue to provide critical resources and opportunities to our student-athletes. At no point during the contracting process did the Pac-12 claim that the agreement it freely entered into violated any laws. To say that the Mountain West was exploiting the Pac-12 could not be further from the truth.

“The Mountain West Conference wanted to help Pac-12 schools and student-athletes, but not at the expense of the Mountain West. The Pac-12 Conference benefited from our willingness to help them and enter into a scheduling agreement with full recognition and legal understanding of their obligations. Now that they have implemented their plan to recruit Mountain West schools, they want to back out of what they legally agreed to.”

The lawsuit also pointed to the roughly $18 million exit fee that each departing school would have to pay to the Mountain West.

“To the extent that the MWC would be harmed by the departure of member schools, these exit fees provide more than adequate compensation to the MWC,” the lawsuit says. “There is no reason why the new schools’ conference should be liable to compensate the MWC more, or why such penalties should apply to only one competing conference: the Pac-12.”

Negotiations between the Pac-12 and Mountain West this summer to extend a scheduling agreement through the 2025 season ended with a wide gap between what the Mountain West wanted and what the Pac-12 was willing to pay.

“Conference negotiations broke down after the MWC demanded $30 million from the Pac-12 for the 2025-26 season, more than double the already exorbitant price the MWC charged the Pac-12 for games during the 2024-25 season,” the lawsuit states. “After the parties failed to reach an agreement in the face of the MWC’s financial demands, the MWC commissioner halted further discussions, stating, ‘I think we need to move forward.’”

With both conferences having seven schools — starting with the 2026 season — more movement is inevitable, as the NCAA requires a conference to have eight football-playing schools. UNLV is on the symbolic clock after confirming its commitment to the Mountain West on Monday, only to back away from that commitment upon learning that Utah State would leave for the Pac-12.