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Washington State, Oregon State secure sole voting rights on Pac-12 board

Tuesday's ruling clears the way for Washington State and Oregon State to control more than $400M in revenuegetty images
Washington State and Oregon State will “remain the only two voting members on the Pac-12 Conference board” after Whitman County Superior Court Judge Gary Libey granted the two schools preliminary injunction yesterday afternoon, according to James Hanlon of the Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW. After hearing two-and-a-half hours of oral arguments, Libey said that WSU and OSU are “likely to succeed in the case.” Libey added that the ten departing schools, who will depart to their new conferences after next summer, “should be allowed to continue to participate in meetings by providing comments and suggestions,” but they will “longer be able to vote while WSU and Oregon State’s lawsuit against the conference moves forward.” WSU and OSU feared that if all 10 schools were allowed to continue to vote, they “might have divided up all of the conference’s assets and left nothing behind” (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 11/14).

NOT OFFICIAL YET: In San Jose, Jon Wilner noted Libey “stayed his ruling until the end of the week” as the defendant, Washington (acting on behalf of all 10 departing members), seeks an appeal from the Washington Supreme Court in Olympia. But the ruling last night “begins to clear the way” for WSU and OSU to control more than $400M in revenue for the current fiscal year and “whatever long-term assets the conference maintains following the departure of 10 schools next summer.” Wilner noted while Libey ruled in favor of WSU and OSU, he “attempted to make sure the contentious situation is dealt with equitably,” perhaps signaling that “some of the 2023-24 revenue should be distributed to the outbound schools.” Wilner noted it “remains unclear” exactly how WSU and OSU “plan to distribute the revenue and manage the assets,” which could include more than $100M in revenue from the NCAA Tournament and Rose Bowl (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 11/14).

STATING THE OBVIOUS: In Spokane, Greg Woods wrote the victory secured by WSU and OSU was “lots of things for the schools: vindicating, refreshing, encouraging,” but it was “not surprising.” Woods wrote this was “always the way this ruling was headed.” From the start in August, when this whole thing kicked off, “nothing about the departing schools’ arguments made much sense” (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 11/14). 

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