significant news today from the Washington Supreme Court:
an article detailing the ruling is here:
https://www.kxly.com/news/washingto...cle_10267c36-8e16-11ee-8bf6-f7e4b6e320a9.html
of note in that article:
"
In Tuesday's decision to issue an emergency stay in the case, Washington Supreme Court Commissioner Michael Johnston cited confusion over the bylaws.
"In my view the provision is poorly written and possibly ambiguous," Johnston wrote. "It gives no guidance as to what constitutes a formal notice of withdrawal and it seemingly makes it impossible to give notice of withdrawal before its August 1, 2024 expiration date without invoking its penalties; that is, the penalties are triggered even if a school announces that it plans to withdraw but intends the withdrawal to be effective only after that date."
Johnston said, "This dispute is in large part one about money, which affects all the parties to this matter."
"The historical and sentimental aspects of this controversy, and the effect it has on students and staff loom large," he wrote, "affecting all parties."
Johnston writes that, "The equities arguably favor UW in light of the harshness of the preliminary injunction."
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if you're an OSU/WSU person, this ruling should make you rather nervous
The Pac-12 + the 10 departing universities want to get the case moved to the State of California where the Pac-12 was legally formed, where it conducts it's business, and where it's headquarters are. That's because the Pac-12 is not a corporation, it's a legal voluntary association, and California has laws governing voluntary associations. The main one is that the boards of voluntary associations are subordinate to the members. In the filing to the Washington Supreme Court, the Pac-12 and the UofW specifically referenced that law and further referenced that the members had the power to dissolve the Pac-12 and distribute all current and future revenue according to a vote of members
if the court dismissed the lawsuit and allowed the case to be moved to California, OSU/WSU could have big problems. From what I've been told, the UofO does not want to fuck-over the Pac-2 that badly; Oregon wants an even 12-way split of the 2023-24 revenue, leaving any future revenue after July 2024 for the Pac-2. But in settlement talks OSU/WSU have been demanding that each departing school give up 8-10M of 2023-24 revenue and threatening to force that with a board vote of 2-0. The Pac-10 will fight that all the way, and if the case is moved to California, OSU/WSU lose all their leverage
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then there is this news:
https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-or...-with-mountain-west-conference-180632163.html
"
The remaining two members of the Pac-12 and the Mountain West are finalizing the long-talked about partnership with an announcement planned in the coming days. The agreement, for now just one season, is expected to include a fee of about $14 million paid to the Mountain West."
interesting...and where is this fee coming from?
the article makes a giant leap to a tenuous conclusion:
"
They plan to remain as a two-school league for at least a year and maybe two as a way to keep alive the Pac-12 brand and its resources. The schools landed a victory earlier this month when a Washington county court granted a preliminary injunction that gives them control of more than $400 million in assets this year and, likely, more than $100 million in additional assets through 2025.
The decision is a strong sign that the Cougars and Beavers may soon have access to millions of dollars in Pac-12 revenue from television contracts, the Rose Bowl and NCAA basketball tournament units. That revenue is normally distributed to each school starting with installments in December. Each school is due about $35-40 million"
cart before the horse? counting chickens before they are hatched?
I'd say there is almost no chance OSU/WSU will be getting more than their 1/12th share of that 400M any time soon. The Pac-10 has clearly demonstrated they will fight in the courts on multiple fronts if necessary.