LOGAN, Utah — Utah State University is suing the Mountain West Conference over exit fees ahead of its move to the Pac-12 Conference in just over a year.
First reported by Yahoo! Sports, Utah State has joined with Colorado State in the complaint filed Monday that claims the exit fees of up to $38 million per school are "invalid and unenforceable."
Utah State and Colorado State are two of the five schools that announced in the fall that are leaving the Mountain West. The other three schools, which are not part of the lawsuit, are Boise State University, Fresno State University and San Diego State University.
The lawsuit argues the Mountain West Conference held secret meetings without the five departing schools and amended league bylaws. Conference commissioner Gloria Nevarez is also claimed to have reached deals with schools that were enticed to stay in the Mountain West by using money from the exit fees of the schools that were leaving.
“The exit fee, which is completely untethered to any harm to the Conference from a member's departure, is clearly designed to punish departing members and is therefore invalid as a matter of law,” the complaint reads.
Monday's lawsuit is separate from a previously filed lawsuit by the Pac-12 Conference against the Mountain West over a different set of exit fees. That lawsuit is focused on a poaching penalty of approximately $55 million that the Mountain West believes it is owed after the Pac-12 welcomed its members to that conference.
