The Pac -12 is filing a claim against the Mountain West over what it calls an illegal and void “poaching penalty” that can set you back the restoring seminar greater than $40 million for including Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State, according to a legal action submitted Tuesday in government court.
The antitrust problem was submitted in the united state District Court of the Northern District of California and is looking for a declaratory reasoning by a court.
“The activity tests an anticompetitive and illegal ‘Poaching Penalty’ that the MWC troubled the Pac -12 to prevent competitors for participant colleges in college sports,” the lawsuit said.
The Mountain West has exit fees of upwards of $17 million for departing schools. Those fees can increase depending on how much advanced notice a school provides. There are also poaching fees that were put in place in the Mountain West’s scheduling agreement with Oregon State and Washington State, the only current Pac-12 members this season.
The fee starts at $10 million and increases by an increment of $500,000 for every additional school the Pac-12 adds from the Mountain West.
With four already on board, the total is $43 million.
The Pac-12 has also targeted Mountain West schools Utah State and UNLV. Adding them would cost another $24.5 million.
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