Pac-12 Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Mountain West Over $50M Poaching Penalty, Including Utah State

Sep 24, 2024, 06:30 PM

The Pac-12 has filed a federal lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference, challenging the enforcement of a 'poaching penalty' related to the acquisition of Mountain West schools, including Utah State. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, argues that the penalty fees, which amount to over $50 million, are anticompetitive and violate antitrust laws. The fees were stipulated in a football scheduling agreement between the two conferences, which includes a $10 million base fee that increases by $500,000 for each additional school acquired. The Mountain West Conference is seeking $43 million in penalties for the first four schools acquired by the Pac-12, with the total potentially rising to $55 million. The Pac-12 contends that these fees are an unlawful horizontal restraint on competition and should be declared unenforceable.