Boise State Petitions Court to Void $5 Million Big East Cancellation Penalty

Boise State Petitions Court to Void $5 Million Big East Cancellation Penalty

In light of an announcement from the Big East Conference – soon to be the American Athletic Conference – that it will pursue a lawsuit against Boise State University for failing to pay the $5 million cancellation policy for exiting the conference, BSU has filed a counter lawsuit.

In a statement released by the university, BSU has requested that the court absolves it of its obligation to pay the penalty, arguing that many of the conditions it was required to meet before formally becoming part of the Big East conference were never completed.

The university listed several conditions that failed to be addressed, including the fact that the Big East lost more than 78 percent of its membership between Dec. 6, 2011, and Dec. 31, 2012, and the conference failed to add football schools west of the Mississippi River. As a result of these unaddressed challenges, in addition to several others, BSU argues that, under sports law, its contract is void.

“Boise State worked diligently to try to salvage the Big East Conference and help lead it into the future, but in the end the changes and losses proved too great to overcome,” said Boise State Athletic Director Mark Coyle.

“Boise State entered into that agreement in good faith and with a great degree of optimism, but the conference we agreed to join simply no longer exists,” said Boise State President Bob Kustra.

The conference responded to the lawsuit, and said that while the school’s legal actions are “disappointing,” it is confident that a judge will side with it and require BSU to meet its contract obligations, according to The Associated Press.