College Sports Chaos: MW, Pac-12 reach settlement over lawsuits

The Mountain West and Pac-12 reached a settlement agreement Monday in their lawsuits over exit and poaching fees.

Terms were not announced and are being negotiated.

The leagues issued a joint statement regarding the settlement:

“The Pac-12 Conference, the Mountain West Conference, and Boise State University, Utah State University, the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System for the benefit of Colorado State University, and The Board of Trustees of the California State University for the benefit of San Diego State University and California State University, Fresno have reached an agreement in principle to resolve the pending lawsuits. The parties have agreed to stay the lawsuits in California and Colorado while they work to negotiate and finalize the settlement.”

The terms of the agreement must be filed with the court by June 2.

The Pac-12 in September 2024 sued the Mountain West over the MW’s demand for $55 million in poaching fees after five schools — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State — left for the Pac-12.

A second case dealt with more than $100 million in exit fees the Mountain West said it was owed after the five departed. The schools sued the MW over those fees, which were included in conference bylaws.

Whatever the final numbers are following negotiations could affect UNLV. Those schools which agreed to remain in the Mountain West and not jump to the Pac-12, like the Rebels, were promised large payouts from those dollars collected from poaching and exit fees.

UNLV in 2024 announced it had agreed to extend its contract with the MW for six years through June of 2032. According to a Memorandum of Understanding, the Mountain West outlined how it would distribute exit and poaching fees.

UNLV and Air Force would each receive 24.5 percent of the first $61 million collected, or $14.9 million to each no later than July 1, 2026.

The next $18 million are held in reserve “to cover the expenses associated with recruiting new member institutions into the conference.”

UNLV is set to receive 25.5 percent of the next $21 million collected, or $5.1 million.

However, if the Mountain West receives only half of what it initially sought, which has been standard in other exit fee lawsuit settlements, it might not have enough money to make the second payment to UNLV.

A district court judge last October denied the Mountain West’s motion to dismiss the Pac-12’s lawsuit over the poaching fees.

The Pac-12 believed those fees violated antitrust laws.

The Mountain West, on the other hand, believed a scheduling agreement signed between the two leagues in December 2023 is what allowed the Pac-12 to stay viable. The Mountain West protected itself by putting the fees in the contract.

But now none of that seems to matter. There is a settlement. The only thing missing are the final numbers.