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Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Pac-12: Who gets what and what is there to get? - Part 2 (round 1)

We noted yesterday that a tussle over the Pac-12 - which UCLA and UC-Berkeley are leaving next year - over who controls it and its assets now and in the future. The remaining two members have won round 1 of that battle.

From the LA Daily News: Washington State and Oregon State scored a major victory in court on Monday when a Whitman County (Wash.) judge agreed to their request for a temporary restraining order preventing the Pac-12’s presidents and chancellors from meeting until the court determines the makeup of the board of directors. “That makes everybody equal,” Superior Court Judge Gary Libey said in issuing his ruling a few minutes after 12 p.m.

A preliminary injunction hearing to determine which schools have voting rights – all 12, or only the Beavers and Cougars – is expected to be scheduled in the next few weeks. “I am pleased with today’s decision,” Oregon State president Jayathi Murthy said on social media. “As the two remaining Pac-12 members, Oregon State and Washington State must be able to chart a path forward for the Pac-12 – not the members that have chosen to leave it.” Washington State president Kirk Schulz called the decision “a step in the right direction.”

The Pac-12, which declined to comment on the ruling, argued that a board meeting scheduled for Wednesday was necessary in order to approve an employee retention-and-severance plan that would help the conference meet its media obligations through the 2023-24 sports season. (The Pac-12 is under contract to produce and operate approximately 1,000 events in exchange for more than $400 million from its media partners.)

...But if the Cougars and Beavers are deemed the sole board members, they would control the assets and potentially use tens of millions of dollars in Pac-12 funds to rebuild the conference and offset the loss of revenue resulting from the collapse...

Full story at https://www.dailynews.com/2023/09/11/pac-12-chaos-judge-sides-with-wsu-and-osu-brings-board-business-to-temporary-halt/.

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