Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez calls out Pac-12 in statement following lawsuit

Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez released a statement Tuesday night following the Pac-12’s lawsuit. The conference filed suit against the MWC over a “poaching penalty” in the two leagues’ scheduling agreement.

Under the agreement, the Pac-12 agreed to a penalty of $10 million for the first Mountain West school acquired, On3’s Pete Nakos reported. From there, the figure would increase by roughly $1 million per school. With five additions on the way from the MWC, the Pac-12 would owe roughly $50 million.

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In her statement, Nevarez said this situation is why the clause was in the agreement. She then called out the idea that the Mountain West was “taking advantage of” the Pac-12, which consists of just two teams this year after a groundbreaking round of conference realignment.

“It is my responsibility to protect the Conference and always keep its best interests in mind,” the statement read. “The Pac-12 Conference is challenging a contractual provision that it expressly agreed to and acknowledged was essential to the Mountain West Conference’s willingness to enter into a Scheduling Agreement, all while advised by sophisticated legal counsel. The provision was put in place to protect the Mountain West Conference from this exact scenario. It was obvious to us and everyone across the country that the remaining members of the Pac-12 were going to try to rebuild.

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“The fees at issue were included to ensure the future viability of the Mountain West and allow our member institutions to continue providing critical resources and opportunities for our student-athletes. At no point in the contracting process did the Pac-12 contend that the agreement that it freely entered into violated any laws. To say that the Mountain West was taking advantage of the Pac-12 could not be farther from the truth.

“The Mountain West Conference wanted to help the Pac-12 schools and student-athletes, but not at the expense of the Mountain West. The Pac-12 has taken advantage of our willingness to help them and enter into a scheduling agreement with full acknowledgment and legal understanding of their obligations. Now that they have carried out their plan to recruit certain Mountain West schools, they want to walk back what they legally agreed to. There has to be a consequence to these types of actions.”

Pac-12: Poaching penalty ‘wholly unrelated to scheduling football games’

This year, the Pac-12 is made up of just Oregon State and Washington State – both of which were left behind as 10 teams departed. The league falls in the grace period to be considered an FBS conference, but took a big step last week to reach the eight-team threshold by 2026.

Four Mountain West teams announced their plans to join the Pac-12. Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State were in the initial announcement, and Utah State joined the fray Monday evening. All five teams are currently in the Mountain West, and multiple teams announced their commitments to the league.

UNLV did not sign an agreement but appeared to be on track to stay with the conference, On3 previously reported. Utah State’s decision, however, forced UNLV officials to step back and evaluate what its next move would be.

Under Mountain West bylaws, each departing school would owe the league $17 million. The Pac-12’s lawsuit is not related to those fees, though.

“There is no legitimate justification for the Poaching Penalty,” the Pac-12’s complaint states. “In fact, the MWC already seeks to impose tens of millions of dollars in ‘exit fees’ on MWC schools that depart from the conference. To the extent the MWC would suffer any harm from the departures of its member schools, these exit fees provide more than sufficient compensation to the MWC.”

Pete Nakos contributed.