Oregon State, Washington State issue joint statement after reaching settlement with departing Pac-12 schools
Oregon State and Washington State have resolved their case against the departing Pac-12 schools, reaching a settlement with the universities leaving the conference.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement in principle that ends litigation,” the 12 universities announced in a joint statement.
OSU and WSU released a statement of their own following news of the settlement.
“The departing schools have agreed to forfeit a portion of distributions over the remainder of the 2023-2024 year and provide specific guarantees against potential future liabilities. The conference retains its assets and all future revenues.” Oregon State president Jayathi Murthy and Washington State president Kirk Schulz said in the statement. “This agreement ensures that the future of the Pac-12 will be decided by the schools that are staying, not those that are leaving. We look forward to what the future holds for our universities, our student-athletes, the Pac-12 Conference and millions of fans.”
In November, a Washington court ruled in favor of OSU and WSU, finding that the universities were entitled to the Pac-12 $400 million of “governance and assets”, a ruling that was later challenged by the departing Pac-12 members. That litigation ended on Thursday thanks to a settlement.
With the universities having come to terms on a football scheduling agreement with the Mountain West, and reportedly nearing affiliate membership in the West Coast Conference in basketball and most other Olympic sports, Thursday marked another milestone in the ongoing saga.