RE: What is a fair amount to release ODU USM and Marshall?
Without being able to actually see the bylaws, we are all just speculating here. But from what I've gathered from various sources here is the problem.
1) The penalty for leaving the conference regardless of time frame is the forfeiture of 2 years of distribution rights. There is no disagreement on this.
2) 14 month notice is supposed to be given. There is no disagreement on this either.
3) If a school wants to leave before the 14 months is up, they are violating the terms of the contract. However, said contract/bylaws does not list a penalty for violating said 14 month notice. Therefore it is debatable just what the penalty is or should be for breaking the contract. IF there is no clear penalty clause, then the usual amount awarded by courts is provable damages, perhaps plus some punitive amount depending on the jurisdiction. I'm not sure where such a lawsuit would be adjudicated, likely Texas, but that also depends on what else is in the contract concerning venues for litigation.
4) Previous patterns of behavior by the schools and conferences. If a party has 15 contracts, but allows 12 of the contracts to be broken without disagreement or penalty, then trying to enforce such a penalty against the remaining 3 has a lesser chance of being held up in court as the behavior of the parties can be used to show what their common business practices were, etc. IF (and I say IF as I'm not privy to the actual details) CUSA has let other teams off of the hook for damages, the the SBC bound schools could potentially use that against CUSA. The devil will be in the details and what had actually previously been done. I know there are articles and beliefs out there on both sides as to what previously departing members did or did not do, but that information will be brought up in legal proceedings if it gets to that point.
So the question is, at least in part, what kind of damages can CUSA prove if the schools leave earlier? Will the media partners withhold some of the money due to less inventory? Will bowls back out? Will the playoff money decrease? Is there a cost in changing schedules? ETC. If there is no clear penalty for breaking the 14 month notice period, these are the kind of damages CUSA would be entitled to, if they can prove them. I personally doubt there is much REAL damages here by the schools leaving 6 months earlier than notice was given, but perhaps CUSA can show some of these damages. Otherwise if there is no penalty in the bylaws, what else really can CUSA claim? There SHOULD have been a penalty put in place, either a flat $X amount or 2x the media payouts or something that could easily be quantified, but it doesn't appear to be the case. I believe if there was a 'if you leave before 14 months then you must cut a $1 million check to CUSA' then either that would have already been paid, a quick compromise would have been found or the schools would have decided that was too rich and stayed for the 14 months. But with it being an open ended question on the cost to leave early, we've got this nasty and ugly fight on what should be paid. If I was one of the attorneys for CUSA, one of the first things I'd do is recommend changing of the bylaws to make an early exit have a clear penalty associated with it. It won't help this situation, but could help any future early departures.
(This post was last modified: 02-03-2022 10:50 AM by forphase1.)
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What is a fair amount to release ODU USM and Marshall?
