Pac-12, Mountain West agree to mediation in legal fight over poaching penalties, exit fees

The Pac- and Mountain West took a major step Wednesday toward resolving their legal disputes over more than million in poaching penalties and exit fees disclosing that they will engage in mediation The process is scheduled to begin May The mediator is not named in court filings in the Northern District of California nor is there a date listed for the mediation to conclude However the conferences have requested a -day extension on the current stay of the poaching penalty lawsuit That stay was set to expire May The Mountain West initiated the conversation about mediation according to a source While the Pac- is committed to engaging in mediation in good faith the conference reported in a message issued Wednesday we remain confident in the strength of our position and are fully prepared to move forward with our situation if we cannot reach an acceptable resolution Our priority continues to be the well-being and fair remedy of our student-athletes Full declaration below The Pac- took the Mountain West to court last fall over million in poaching penalties the Mountain West claimed it was owed following the disclosed departures of five schools Boise State Colorado State Fresno State San Diego State and Utah State which are scheduled to join the Pac- in the summer of A second lawsuit emerged in late when Colorado State and Utah State challenged the exit fees owed to the Mountain West as part of their planned departures The fees are deduced to carry a price tag starting at million per school Boise State eventually joined the lawsuit Discussions about manageable mediation began months ago The May meeting will include both the poaching penalty and exit fee lawsuits per the court filing Wednesday As the Parties previewed for the Court that mediation will also include parties in a related development filed in December in Colorado state court How long might the mediation last The extension on the stay is requested through July but the process could take one day or several weeks When Washington State and Oregon State took the Pac- s former schools to court in the fall of over control of the conference mediation required numerous sessions and lasted three months The Pac- and Mountain West are seeking media rights agreements for their rebuilt conferences that would begin in the summer of The former just disclosed a deal for the season with The CW CBS and ESPN All three networks are presumed to be interested in a multi-year agreement with the conference The degree to which the poaching penalty and exit fee lawsuits have delayed completion of a media deal is not known Here s the full announcement from the Pac- Related Articles College football Top rankings Clemson is No then Penn State Texas CFB recap Bill Belichick the CBS fiasco and bread crumbs to realignment Mailbag Big Ten SEC and the next FBS realignment wave Stanford AD search How GM Andrew Luck s role impacts candidate pool CFB recruiting USC sizzles ASU lands elite JC Cal s southern surprise The Pac- Conference Pac- and the Mountain West Conference MWC have submitted a joint filing indicating they will try to mediate their dispute beginning on May As part of this process both parties have requested a -day extension to stay their ongoing legal proceedings so they can focus on the mediation It is critical to note that the Pac- initiated this legal action in September in response to the MWC s attempt to impose unlawful poaching penalties which were designed to hinder our ability to act in the best interests of our student-athletes and member institutions While the Pac- is committed to engaging in mediation in good faith we remain confident in the strength of our position and are fully prepared to move forward with our circumstance if we cannot reach an acceptable resolution Our priority continues to be the well-being and fair rehabilitation of our student-athletes Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - - Follow me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline