West Virginia settles Big East lawsuit for reported $20 million
West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith (12) celebrates a touchdown during the first half of the Orange Bowl NCAA college football game against Clemson. (Jan. 4, 2012) Credit: AP
The Big East announced on Tuesday a precedent-setting court settlement with West Virginia that upholds conference bylaws but allows that school to join the Big 12 effective June 30, 2012 in exchange for a reported cash settlement of $20 million.
Under Big East bylaws in effect at the time West Virginia announced its decision to join the Big 12, the school was required to pay a $5 million exit fee and wait 27 months before leaving, meaning it could not have begun play in the Big 12 until the 2014-15 academic year. The school filed suit against the Big East in West Virginia, and the conference countersued in Rhode Island, where the league is based.
"West Virginia University has acknowledged and agreed that the Court in Monongalia County, West Virginia, will enter a judgment that the Big East Conference bylaws are valid and enforceable, and will dismiss with prejudice all of West Virginia's claims against the Conference," Big East commissioner John Marinatto said in a statement.
In announcing the league vote to "terminate" West Virginia's membership, the statement from the Big East said it "took into account the steps that West Virginia University was willing to take to resolve the litigation, including the payment of an exit fee well in excess of that required by the bylaws."
Neither side formally announced terms of the settlement, but reports in the Charleston Gazette and the Charleston Daily Mail, where WVU is located, placed the figure at $20 million. Mountaineers athletic director Oliver Luck said in a statement that no state or taxpayer funds, tuition money or other academic revenues will be used. He said West Virginia will pay the Big East from private sources and money that athletics raised on its own.
According to the newspaper reports in Charleston, West Virginia will pay the Big East $9 million and the Big 12 $1 million. The Big 12 will pay the Big East $11 million of which $5 million will be considered a loan that WVU must pay back. The Mountaineers will pay it back by taking a $1 million reduction in its Big 12 rights fees for five years. As for the $9 million WVU owes the Big East, it previously paid $2.5 million and a portion of the balance will come from Big East rights fees that have not been paid.
It was a high price for West Virginia to pay, but the school insisted when it joined the Big 12 that it would be able to participate in 2012-13, starting with football season. The loss of West Virginia leaves the Big East with eight football schools for 2012, including Pitt and Syracuse, which have announced plans to join the Atlantic Coast Conference but have not yet challenged the 27-month waiting period.
CBSSports.com reported both schools likely will attempt to leave for the 2013-14 school year by paying $10 million, which is double the normal exit fee. That is a likely scenario because the Big East recently added Boise State and San Diego State as football-only members and Central Florida, Houston, Memphis and SMU as all-sports members for the 2013-14 season. Navy joins as a football-only member in 2015.
The Big East statement wished West Virginia future success and added the addition of seven new members means "The future for the Big East Conference has never been brighter."
