Big East and WVU settle

#1
TrueOrange

TrueOrange

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#1
was the expected outcome, but now is official

West Virginia Mountaineers to join Big 12 in July after Big East lawsuit settlement - ESPN

West Virginia will join the Big 12 for the 2012 season after a lawsuit settlement was reached with the Big East, the school and league announced Tuesday.

The Big East Conference board of directors voted to terminate West Virginia's membership, effective June 30.

The vote is conditioned on WVU fulfilling its obligations under an agreement that resolves the lawsuits between both parties.

West Virginia had sued the Big East in its home state to get out of the league without waiting 27 months, as required by league bylaws. The Big East filed its own suit in Rhode Island, seeking to hold West Virginia to the waiting period.

The amount of the settlement was not released.

The Big East said the payment of the exit fee was "well in excess of that required by the bylaws." That figure has been reported to be in the range of $20 million.

"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.

The Big East decided to terminate West Virginia's membership because of accusations made in the school's lawsuit, along with the school's willingness to resolve the legal wrangling, including its settlement payment.

"This closes a chapter and opens a new one filled with exciting possibilities for WVU's future," West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck said in a news release. "I've heard from Mountaineer fans across the country who have made it very clear that they are proud and honored to be heading into the Big 12."

Luck also stressed that no state or taxpayer funds, tuition or academic support money will be used to pay the settlement. Any settlement funding will come from private sources and independently generated athletic revenues.

West Virginia accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 in October and immediately announced it would join in time for the 2012 season. The move leaves the Big East with seven football schools for 2012.

Syracuse and Pitt announced previously that they were leaving the Big East for the ACC, but have said they were willing to abide by the 27-month waiting period. Both schools are expected to remain in the Big East through at least 2012-13.

Whether they decide to jump a year early now, given West Virginia's departure, likely will come up for discussion.

With all of the losses, the Big East has added seven members to get up to 12 teams by the 2015 season. But the league is down one team for 2012, and it has tried to get one of its new members to join the league a year early to alleviate scheduling concerns. But so far, there has been no progress in that regard.
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should mean a big 12 conference schedule will come out soon
 
#2
#2
Also, I imagine now you might see Syracuse and Pitt try to move to the ACC in 2013 instead of 2014

...though while the big 12 was willing to help pay $20 mil for one school, have to at least wonder a little how much the ACC would be willing to help pay $40 mil all at once
 
#3
#3
The new Big East members, with the exception of Navy, will all join by 2013. The Big East probably won't ask for as much of a buyout from Syracuse and Pitt, since the conference doesn't stand to lose as much as they do right now.
 
#4
#4
bamawriter said:
The new Big East members, with the exception of Navy, will all join by 2013. The Big East probably won't ask for as much of a buyout from Syracuse and Pitt, since the conference doesn't stand to lose as much as they do right now.
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Good point. Plus, Syracuse and Pitt would still (likely) be meeting half the obligated wait period.

So it would reduce it to...something like $10 mil each?
 
#7
#7
"Its amazing what a little shine and chaw will do for negotiations. Dem carpetbaggers were dern-right hospitable after we all set a spell." -WVU
 
#10
#10
I do not look for the Big East to become a football powerhouse anytime soon. At least not until Memphis is on board.
 
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#11
#11
Big 12's focus can shift to future with WVU - Big 12 Blog - ESPN

Finally.

Right?

West Virginia accepted an invitation to the Big 12 back in October, and at a later news conference assured everyone it would be joining the Big 12 for the 2012 season, despite a clear requirement in the Big East bylaws to give the league 27 months' notice before leaving.

Everybody has their price.

The Big East's is apparently $20 million, more than double what it cost Nebraska ($9-plus million) and triple what it cost Colorado ($6-plus million) to leave the Big 12 in the summer of 2010. Texas A&M and Missouri's exit fees are still being negotiated.

West Virginia offered months of assurances that it would be free from dueling lawsuits with its now-former league. The Big 12 agreed and felt confident enough to give television networks a schedule with the Mountaineers on it, which was released publicly today.

It might feel a little breezy around Big 12 country today. Take a deep breath. Enjoy a sigh of relief.

Disaster avoided. Great football program welcomed.

Officially.

The past two years have been, uh, turbulent for the Big 12. Four of the league's 12 members bolted to other conferences -- Texas A&M and Missouri to the SEC, Nebraska to the Big Ten and Colorado to the Pac-12 -- over a period of 17 months, trimming a proud league and making expansion a necessity.

For their replacements, the Big 12 turned to the Big East.

TCU hadn't officially joined the conference, and its untangling was much simpler.

West Virginia, though, joined the league as a football member in 1991 and had enjoyed full membership since 1995. The divorce was messy, but for the Big 12, it was the ultimate Valentine’s Day gift.

Finally, the conference can move forward. For once, the Big 12 played the part of poacher and not the poached.

The league's members are all committed and granted their media rights to the league for six years. Here's more on what that means, but essentially it ensures that teams in the Big 12 are valuable to the Big 12 and only the Big 12.

Anyone else feel that? And by that, I mean nothing? The ground underneath the Big 12 has finally stopped shifting. Fans can stop wondering who's in and who's out.

Expansion seems highly, highly unlikely. Louisville, Cincinnati and BYU loom outside the Big 12's gates, but the league must be assured that any member that joins won't cause the 10 current members' slices of the financial pie to grow any thinner. TCU's and West Virginia's admittance was about bringing in Top 25 programs with BCS success more than admitting a team with a huge fan base, though the Mountaineers possess both.

If any of the Big 12's three most obvious options had those things, they'd likely already have joined the Big 12.

Contraction, at least for the next near-decade, is a shade away from impossibility.

The Big 12 can finally take its mind off its on-field drama and get back to focusing its attention toward on-field results. That wouldn't be a bad idea for a league that's been shut out of the BCS National Championship Game for two consecutive seasons, something that's happened just once (2006-07) since 1999.

Coaches recruiting, especially at West Virginia, can stop answering parents' awkward questions about which league their sons will be playing in by the end of their careers.

For the foreseeable future, the conference is done changing.

For the Big 12, that's a welcome change.
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#12
#12
West Virginia AD Luck talks Big 12 entrance - Big 12 Blog - ESPN

West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck spoke with media earlier today after the university and Big East announced the Mountaineers would be leaving for the Big 12 on July 1, its intended departure date since announcing it had accepted an invitation to the Big 12 in late October.

He was not permitted to discuss terms of the agreement between WVU and the Big East as part of the settlement.

Here's a bit of what he had to say.

Big 12 revenue sharing formula is set

We discussed this back when TCU and West Virginia first announced their intentions to leave the Big East for the Big 12, but Luck confirmed it again on Tuesday.

In Year 1, both schools will receive 50 percent of an expected $18-19 million payout. Those payouts will grow along with the league's backloaded television contracts, but TCU and WVU will receive 67 percent of their payout in 2013.

"Where they move in the next 3-4 years, I’m not sure I can share," Luck said of the growing television payouts. "I don’t know."

In 2014, they will receive 80 percent of their television money before jumping to a full share in 2015, the duo's fourth year in the league.

Texas A&M and Missouri will receive full shares of SEC revenue in their first year in the league.

Beer will be sold at games in Morgantown

Visiting Big 12 fans and concerned Mountaineers don't have to wonder anymore. Beer will be served in the stadium.

"The Big 12 does not have any rules or regulation regarding beer sales, and our intent is to continue to do what we have done," Luck said. "It's certainly subject to any decision the board of governors may make."

WVU hosts Baylor, Kansas State, TCU and Oklahoma next season.

Backyard Brawl will likely go on hiatus

West Virginia's chief rival is Pitt, but like the Lone Star Showdown and Border War in the Big 12, it'll be ending after this recent round of realignment.

Unlike the Big 12 rivalries, though, it may soon be resumed. It's "pretty obvious" it won't be played 2012, but Luck was hopeful it could be continued in the future.

"It’ll be difficult to schedule," he said, citing the nine-game conference schedules in the Big 12 and Pitt's impending new home, the ACC. "I certainly would welcome a conversation with [Pitt AD] Steve Pederson."

The Big East, an eight-team league, played just seven conference games.

No culture shock for the Mountaineers

Luck reiterated how well he thought West Virginia fits in the Big 12 culturally.

"As our fans begin to get to know the schools that are in the Big 12, they'll find schools that have a lot of commonality with us," he said. "They're large public institutions, many of them with enrollments the size of West Virginia's. There are great land-grant universities, in some cases serving largely rural constituencies. You think about Iowa State or Kansas or Kansas State. Great research institutions, similar things that our academic and research folks will find with the Big 12. I think as we go into the conference and start to have shared experiences in all the different sports, our fan base will really warm up to what's really a tremendous conference."
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