The University of Washington on Thursday filed a motion opposing a request by Washington State and Oregon State last week to take control of the Pac-12 board. The motion, filed in Whitman County (Wash.) Superior Court, cites concerns that the two schools would control all conference revenue from 2023-24 for themselves.
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Washington filed a motion last month to join the case as a defendant alongside the Pac-12 and commissioner George Kliavkoff. The 10 departing schools also released a joint statement on the situation.
“The attempt by Oregon State University and Washington State University to take sole control of the Pac-12 Conference would undermine this season’s Pac-12 competitions and deprive the other 10 members of the funds that have been rightfully earned by all our universities,” the statement from the 10 departing schools said in part. “Granting OSU and WSU unilateral authority over hundreds of millions of dollars in 2023-2024 revenue needed this year to run our athletics programs would harm our universities, including our ability to provide critical resources and opportunities for our student-athletes.”
Oregon State and Washington State have argued that all 10 departing schools are no longer board members, since they have announced their departures, effective Aug. 1, 2024. The filing cited past comments from Kliavkoff that USC and UCLA were removed from the board when they announced their Big Ten plans last year and a text message on Aug. 4 where Kliavkoff claimed the league had only four board members left (OSU, WSU, Cal and Stanford).
The UW filing on Thursday claims that, despite comments by Kliavkoff, USC and UCLA were never actually removed from the board. It also claims all members long ago agreed that current-year revenues are shared evenly among all active members, and that OSU and WSU can do whatever they want with money after that.
“Their lawsuit stems from a flawed interpretation of the Pac-12 bylaws, which were drafted and ratified by all 12 schools to ensure an equal revenue distribution for every member who remains in the conference throughout the current media rights deal, which ends in summer 2024,” the group statement said. “All 10 member schools adhered to these bylaws, and we are resolute in protecting our rights to participate in Pac-12 Conference governance through the end of this season.
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“We note that, regardless of the outcome of their lawsuit — and even if they had not filed it — OSU and WSU will still control roughly $200 million in Conference revenue after our 10 schools depart the Conference. While we recognize and respect OSU’s and WSU’s need to secure the best future for their institutions, we cannot let their legal campaign harm our efforts on behalf of our student-athletes and university communities.”
OSU and WSU previously went to court in September to stop the Pac-12 board from meeting, concerned that the group would vote to dissolve the league or take control of money or assets. The court sided with OSU and WSU. The Pac-12 can conduct normal business but cannot meet as a board without court approval.
The two schools released a statement Thursday about UW’s filing, again claiming that they should control the conference now.
“Today’s filing is yet another attempt by the departing schools to ignore conference bylaws and prevent OSU and WSU from exercising their right to govern the future of the Pac-12,” the statement said. “It is disappointing that the departing schools are directly reversing their prior interpretation of the bylaws in an effort to take control of the Pac-12, a conference to which they no longer have any loyalty. We did not create or seek these circumstances, but OSU and WSU will continue to take whatever actions are necessary to protect our universities, ensure accountability and transparency, safeguard student-athletes and the Pac-12 Conference, and preserve our options moving forward.”
(Photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)
