1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Moderator1, Apr 19, 2010.

  1. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    @franticscribe

    Does this make sense to you? Found it on another site.

    "The exit fees and poaching fees that the PAC is supposed to pay to the MWC are known as "liquidated damages" in the contracts world. (Basically, it means that you agree to pay a fixed amount if you breach a contract.) And they are notoriously difficult to enforce.

    "Courts usually frown on liquidated damages. They prefer that the aggrieved party prove that they actually suffered X amount in damages as a result of the breach and then sue for X dollars. Case law says that for liquidated damages to be enforceable, they have to be a realistic estimate of the actual damages that the aggrieved party suffered as a result of the breach and not simply a punishment for breaching the contract.

    "And given that the MWC is likely to survive as a viable conference, I think it's highly unlikely that they will be able to convince a court that they suffered $100M+ in damages due to the PAC defections.

    "To be clear, there is a 100% chance that this will settle long before it gets to that point. Neither side wants to let this go to a judge, much less a jury, because the outcome is too unpredictable. But I don't think the MWC's hand is anywhere near as strong as you think it is.

    "From my point of view, if they get 50% of the liquidated damages in these contracts, it will be a major victory. There is a reason that teams basically always pay only a fraction of the contracted exit fees when they switch conferences. Liquidated damages are simply too hard to enforce.

    "And that is why conferences have been moving to grants of rights in recent years. Unlike liquidated damages, a GOR is almost certainly enforceable, since it ties the penalty for leaving to actual damages that the conference suffered."
     
  2. franticscribe

    franticscribe Well-Known Member

    It does. I don't know enough of the facts, honestly, to know if I agree with it. But the argument makes sense to me. I do think the lawsuit is almost entirely to create leverage to negotiate the poaching penalty to a fraction.
     
  3. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Next up: MACtion!
     
  4. Della9250

    Della9250 Well-Known Member

    I mean what are we even doing here
     
    dixiehack and TigerVols like this.
  5. HackyMcHack

    HackyMcHack Member

    The only way this makes sense for Toledo and NIU is if the rest of the MAC were to drop to FCS. Otherwise, the only logical move up for those two schools would be to the American ... and I'm not so sure that is even a good move at this point.
     
  6. Della9250

    Della9250 Well-Known Member

    If you're doing this, add the Dakota States and be done with it
     
  7. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    I'm not seeing any school leaving the Big Sky. No one wants New Mexico State or UTEP. So, off to the MAC.
     
  8. dixiehack

    dixiehack Well-Known Member

    I’ve heard dumber ideas, but not many.
     
  9. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    This is absolutely nuts but if it were to somehow happen no freaking way does the MAC allow Toledo's and NIU's other sports to remain in the conference.
     
  10. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    PAC and MWC each will have seven and they need to get to eight.

    They should just merge and have two seven-team divisions.
     
  11. SoloFlyer

    SoloFlyer Well-Known Member

    That was the easiest, most sensible solution all along.

    Greed won.
     
    MileHigh likes this.
  12. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    That might be the whole point of this exercise frankly, but OSU and Wazzu don't want to be just another vote in the room.

    If you gave me a quiz and asked me which schools were in the American, CUSA or the Sun Belt, I'd have no clue. News Flash: Army and Navy are the only undefeated schools left in American Conference.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page