Pac-12 files lawsuit against Mountain West over $43 in ‘poaching’ penalties.

The Pac-12 is suing the Mountain West over what it calls an illegal and unenforceable “poaching penalty” that would cost the rebuilding conference more than $40 million to add Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State , according to a lawsuit. filed in federal court.

The antitrust complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and seeks a declaratory judgment by a judge.

“The action challenges an anticompetitive and illegal ‘poaching penalty’ that the MWC imposed on the Pac-12 to inhibit competition for member schools in collegiate athletics,” the lawsuit states.

The Mountain West has more than $17 million in exit fees for departing schools. These fees can increase depending on how much notice a school gives and are not at issue in the lawsuit.

The Pac-12 is challenging the poaching fees that were set in this season’s Mountain West football scheduling agreement with Oregon State and Washington State, the only current Pac-12 members this season.

The fee starts at $10 million and increases in increments of $500,000 for each additional school the Pac-12 adds from the Mountain West. With four already on board, the total is $43 million.

Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement that the Pac-12 agreed to the fees and recognized that they are essential to its conference members.

“The provision was put in place to protect the Mountain West Conference from this exact scenario. It was obvious to us and everyone around the country that the remaining members of the Pac-12 were going to try to rebuild,” she said. “The fees in question 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 in the contracting process did the Pac-12 claim that the agreement it freely entered into violated any law.”

The Pac-12 also extended invitations to Mountain West schools Utah State and UNLV on Monday.

Utah State admitted Monday, according to the lawsuit, though the conference and school made it official Tuesday night in an announcement.

“Today marks another exciting step for the Pac-12 — and it’s just the beginning of phase two,” Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement.

No word yet on UNLV.

Utah State’s combined winning percentage in football and men’s basketball (59.1%) over the past 10 years ranks third in the Mountain West behind Boise State and San Diego State.

“This move unlocks new possibilities by directly enhancing the student-athlete experience and will significantly strengthen our reputation for competitive success, academic performance and research excellence,” said Utah State President Elizabeth Cantwell.

Adding Utah State and UNLV would cost the Pac-12 another $24.5 million and leave the Mountain West with just six members, two short of what is needed for NCAA and College Football Playoff recognition.

The Pac-12 claims in the lawsuit that the “severe” exit fees the Mountain West instituted already make up for the loss of departing members.

The Pac-12 claims the poaching penalty had nothing to do with the intent of the settlement between Oregon State and Washington State and the Mountain West, which would have given the respective schools six football opponents this year for a $14 million payment to league.

“It extends beyond the terms of the Scheduling Agreement, does not affect the schedule in any way, and does not in any way affect the amount of football played, the games scheduled or anything else related to the scheduling of games for 2024-2025,” the lawsuit says. said.

“Instead, the poaching penalty only serves to increase MWC profits by shutting down member schools and preventing them from leaving for a (Pac-12) competitor.”

The programming agreement was not renewed for next year.

Oregon State and Washington State are in the first year of a two-year NCAA grace period in which the Pac-12 operates as a two-team conference.

By 2026, the Pac-12 needs at least eight members to be recognized as a conference by the NCAA and CFP.

The first phase of the Pac-12’s expansion began two weeks ago when it announced the additions of Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State, four of the Mountain West’s most successful football programs.

The Pac-12 then targeted a group of American Athletic Conference schools, but was rejected by Memphis, UTSA, Tulane and South Florida.

As the Pac-12 returned to Mountain West schools, the Mountain West was trying to lock in its eight remaining members through a rights deal that ties the schools together by conference through television rights.

Some Mountain West schools signed a memorandum of understanding and returned it to Monday’s conference, but when Utah State didn’t, it allowed the others to reconsider.

Now, with the Pac-12 suing the Mountain West, it’s unclear whether either conference can move forward.

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