Canzano: Pac-12 strikes a big victory
Judge denies Mountain West's motion to dismiss.
Oregon State finally got a win.
Washington State is a winner, too.
The new-world Pac-12 struck a collective victory over the Mountain West Conference on Tuesday in the United States Northern District Court. A judge denied a motion from the MW to dismiss the Pac-12’s antitrust lawsuit.
The ruling is a win for the new-world Pac-12. It clears the way for the conference’s “poaching penalty” antitrust lawsuit to move forward. The MW claims it is owed $55 million in penalties for the five schools that left it to join the Pac-12.
Commissioner Teresa Gould’s conference contends the MW’s fees were illegal and designed to suppress competition.
What does Tuesday’s ruling mean for the Pac-12?
What happens next?
I spoke with two legal experts, who said the ruling is an inflection point.