It has been 16 days since a federal judge allowed the Pac-12’s poaching penalty lawsuit against the Mountain West to move forward.
That’s 16 days of public silence and private plotting — 16 days of preparing for a case management conference and pondering motions and strategizing for the discovery process and delving into every facet of this year-long case that has no end in sight.
To the extent that it existed in the first place, the pomp and circumstance portion of the show is over, folks.
Get ready for months (and months) of minutiae.
“There is no way this will be over by next summer unless there’s a settlement,” a source with knowledge of the case told the Hotline.
And therein lies perhaps the Pac-12’s greatest advantage and arguably the Mountain West’s greatest vulnerability: The former can afford to play at the slowest of tempos; that’s not necessarily the case for the latter.
The Mountain West believes it is owed $55 million from the Pac-12 under the terms of a scheduling agreement signed in December 2023 that attached a price tag of approximately $11 million to any school the Pac-12 poached.
After Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State declared themselves bound for the Pac-12 in the fall of 2024, the Mountain West demanded its money.
The Pac-12 responded with a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California.
Mediation failed to produce a resolution through the spring and summer. And on Sept. 30, magistrate judge Susan van Keulen rejected all four causes of action in the Mountain West’s motion to dismiss the case.
While the decision did not render judgment on the legalities of the Pac-12’s lawsuit, it set a course forward for the case: Absent a settlement, it will be a long, long road.
That could be problematic for the Mountain West.
According to the terms of its membership agreement, the conference office is supposed to distribute approximately $60 million to the remaining schools by July 1.
UNLV and Air Force are set to receive outsized portions (approximately $15 million each), the reward for committing to the Mountain West and not seeking refuge in the Pac-12 and American.
What’s next?
The case management conference is set for Nov. 18, followed by months of discovery and motions and counter motions.
A trial is unlikely before next summer. And if the Pac-12 loses, it will assuredly appeal.
In other words, the Mountain West probably won’t collect a dime — if it collects anything — before it’s supposed to meet its financial obligations to the schools on July 1.
Would failure to distribute the first tranche of cash void the membership agreement and prompt UNLV and Air Force to look elsewhere?
“The Mountain West needs to start making plans around the reality of the timing,” the source said. “To get the $55 million, they have to win the case, then the Pac-12 appeals, which could take a year, and then they have to win final judgment. It’s challenging.”
How will the Mountain West schools budget for the 2025-26 competition year without knowing if the truckload of cash promised by the conference office will ever arrive?
Do they assume the infusion isn’t coming until 2026-27?
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Meanwhile, the schools in both conferences must pay the attorneys.
For the Mountain West, the logistics of the case seemingly are as challenging as the legalities. And the only way to avoid a 12-to-18-month extension of the process is to accept a settlement for what would assuredly be far less than $55 million.
The Mountain West might have a strong case or a weak case — that’s for the judge to decide.
But the conference clearly has an issue with the calendar.
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