Mountain West Conference seeks mediation over $55 million in dispute in Pac-12 'poaching' lawsuit

The Mountain West Conference said Thursday it is seeking mediation in the lawsuit the Pac-12 filed against it in an attempt to avoid paying $55 million in “poaching” fees for bringing five Mountain West teams into its own league.

The Pac-12 and some of the schools it is adding filed lawsuits last year, claiming the poaching clause it agreed to when it signed a scheduling agreement for its football teams for last season was invalid.

The clause called for payments to the Mountain West of $10 million for the first team that left, with the amount growing by $500,000 for every additional team. That was on top of the $17 million-plus exit fees schools were responsible for as part of a different agreement.

Colorado State, Utah State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Boise State are all set to join the Pac-12 starting in 2026.

“The goal is to resolve the parties’ disputes through terms mutually agreed to by the parties,” the Mountain West said in a statement. "While the Conference remains confident in its legal positions, the ongoing litigation matters are a distraction from our main priorities: serving our member institutions and our student-athletes.”

The Pac-12 did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The once-storied conference nearly folded when all its programs besides Washington State and Oregon State left to join the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conferences last year.

That led to the scheduling agreement with the Mountain West to help the Cougars and Beavers piece together a football season in 2024. While that was playing out, the Pac-12 agreed to absorb five of the Mountain West teams, which triggered the poaching clause and, thus, the lawsuit.

The Pac-12 needs one more program to get to eight teams, which is the minimum it would need to be eligible for an automatic bid for its conference champion in the College Football Playoff.

The Mountain West has added UTEP, Hawaii and Northern Illinois for football starting in 2026.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football