By Christian Dennie
The University of West Virginia (“WVU”) and the Big East Conference (“Big East”) waged important and contentious litigation in one another in both West Virginia and Rhode Island. On February 14, 2012, the parties announced a resolution to the dispute that would allow WVU to join the Big 12 Conference (“Big 12”) on July 1, 2012.
In exchange, the Big East was provided $20 million with WVU reportedly contributing $11 million and the Big 12 contributing an additional $9 million. Additionally, the West Virginia court will execute a consent decree that validates the Big East Bylaws.
Conference realignment litigation is not uncommon. The Big East entered into legal wranglings with Boston College, University of Miami, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the mid-2000s when these institutions defected for the Atlantic Coast Conference. In 2010, the Western Athletic Conference filed suited against the University of Nevada, California State University, Fresno, and the Mountain West Conference. Similarly, Big 12 institutions threatened to sue Texas A&M University when it decided to move to the Southeastern Conference.
This litigation, however, produced arrows that have not been previously thrown.
Specifically, WVU accused the Big East and its Commissioner of breaching fiduciary duties and not staying active in the national conference realignment debate, which created, according to WVU, a depleted football conference. Although such an argument was novel in theory and likely difficult to assert because it is not clear that the Big East owes such a fiduciary duty to WVU, it created a wrinkle in the litigation that had to be examined.
At the end of the day, the Big 12 and WVU clearly wanted their marriage to begin in 2012 due to scheduling and television agreements. As such, it was difficult to see a situation where that would not occur. Thus, WVU agreed to pay an additional $15 million to leave prior to the 27 month timeframe contemplated by Big East Bylaws. On the other hand, the Big East had to show 1) it would defend and enforce its bylaws; and 2) protect against a mass exodus of institutions. The Big East clearly was looking to set a precedent that would send a message to other institutions considering leaving the conference.
With a settlement reached, both parties were able to further their objectives and move forward. The Big East has added a host of institutions to remain a viable conference and WVU can compete immediately in the Big 12.
Dennie is an attorney at Barlow Garsek & Simon, LLP, a full-service civil boutique law firm providing a wide range of litigation, transactional and business-oriented services. He can be reached at cdennie@bgsfirm.com