Pac-12 Conference countersues Holiday Bowl amid swirling changes

The Pac-12 Conference has countersued the Holiday Bowl in San Diego over a $3.4 million payment the league says it was owed for the game in December 2022, adding to the issues being sorted out by the league after it fell apart last year in the latest wave of college realignment.

The Pac-12’s countersuit comes about eight months after the Holiday Bowl first sued the Pac-12 in May in San Diego County Superior Court. In that lawsuit, the nonprofit bowl game sought payback from the league after the Holiday Bowl game in 2021 was canceled amid COVID-19 issues with players for UCLA, a member of the Pac-12.

“Holiday Bowl has breached the Agreement by failing and refusing to make any payment to (the Pac-12) in connection with the 2022 Holiday Bowl Game,” the Pac-12’s countersuit states. “Holiday Bowl’s breach is not justified or excused.”

The Holiday Bowl claimed last year that it suffered more than $7.8 million in losses from the canceled game in 2021 and later tried to offset this by withholding its required payment to the Pac-12 for the game that took place in 2022 between North Carolina and Oregon, another Pac-12 member.

Now the Pac-12 is asking the court to help the league collect.

Backdrop of Pac-12 issues

This court action comes even though the Pac-12 membership has been reduced to two members for 2024: Oregon State and Washington State. Those two schools recently gained control of the league’s governing board, which retained the league’s assets and future revenues.

The two schools have two years to chart a new future while staying in the “Pac-2,” which could include combining with the Mountain West Conference.

It’s a time of swirling change for the league, as 10 of its other members get ready to depart later this year for the Big Ten, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conferences. The 10 departing schools…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/pac-12-conference-countersues-holiday-004818389.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-02-14 00:48:18

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