Keker, Van Nest & Peters office in San Francisco. Photo by Jason Doiy

Pac-12, Represented by Keker, Sues Mountain West Conference Over 'Unlawful' Poaching Penalty

Pac-12's counsel at Keker, Van Nest & Peters, which filed the complaint on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claimed that the Pac-12 was forced to agree to the "unlawful" terms of its agreement with the MWC under duress. The claim alleged an invalid contract for unenforceable penalties and violations of the Section 1 of the Sherman Act, California's Cartwright Act and California's Unfair Competition Law.

September 24, 2024 at 02:35 PM

4 minute read

Contractual Disputes

By Kat Black

The original version of this story was published on The Recorder

What You Need to Know

The Pac-12, a Division I collegiate athletics conference, sued its competitor Mountain West Conference.
The Pac-12 lost 10 member schools in 2023 and was left with only two, Oregon State and Washington State.
The complaint alleges that the provision violates federal antitrust law and that the terms of the agreement are unenforceable.

The Pac-12, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletics conference, has sued rival Mountain West Conference for imposing a "poaching penalty" in a scheduling agreement that allegedly curbed competition between member schools and breached federal antitrust law.

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