In the complaint, the Pac-12 said the MWC took advantage of a "disadvantaged and desperate conference." During the negotiations, the schools did not believe the "poaching fee" was legal or forcible.

While the Pac-12’s TV deal with CBS may impact negotiations, the Mountain West still expects to land a solid media rights agreement thanks to its valuable live football inventory.

Two months after the Pac-12 took the Mountain West to court over the legality of the so-called poaching penalty in the scheduling agreement between the conferences, the defendant fired back.

With the Mountain West and Pac-12 now seemingly at odds with one another, trying to survive in the new tumultuous college football landscape, there could be more movement coming.

Pac-12, Mountain West headed back to court after mediation goes nowhere The conferences were unable to resolve their differences. The next step is a hearing on the Mountain West’s motion to dismiss.

The Mountain West conference is reportedly "amid a significant push to keep its core of eight schools together, which includes one-time payments of guaranteed money to the schools," according to ...

After crippling the Mountain West by taking five of its teams, the Pac-12 is now suing it to get out of paying “poaching penalties” associated with a scheduling agreement it signed last year.

Confidence high The Pac-12 filed a federal lawsuit in September questioning the legality of the “poaching penalty” in its football scheduling agreement with the Mountain West from December 2023.