Exit Penalty

[Scarlet Overkill]

I have zero legal expertise in this and I don't know what penalties are going to be. But, one thing I do know -- because of how this whole thing went down, though, I would throw out in the hearings that NU will never schedule another game against a former Big 12 foe in the non-conference. Ever. again. Ever. From 2011 to Infinity. Meet in bowls if it comes down to it, but I wouldn't want that puke bend me over conference to ever see one big red cent from us after the penalty unless it was a bowl game.

Screw 'em all. Seriously. No, I'm not bitter. Ok, maybe a little.

 

[Judoka]

I have zero legal expertise in this and I don't know what penalties are going to be. But, one thing I do know -- because of how this whole thing went down, though, I would throw out in the hearings that NU will never schedule another game against a former Big 12 foe in the non-conference. Ever. again. Ever. From 2011 to Infinity. Meet in bowls if it comes down to it, but I wouldn't want that puke bend me over conference to ever see one big red cent from us after the penalty unless it was a bowl game.

Screw 'em all. Seriously. No, I'm not bitter. Ok, maybe a little.

Maybe not ever, but give more consideration to whom we schedule. Wouldn't want to strengthen their OOC schedule now would we?

 

[sd'sker]

earlier today i was lurking on tigerboard, and them getting (which i do not think is true anymore) the money was kind of their call of victory.

also, this conversation is not intended to preclude anyone, i was just wondering people's thoughts, if anyone heard anything, and if any actually had any legal knowledge on the situation.

there are so many theories out there about what went one with TU, the pac 10, and beebe and i think this money we have to pay was probable used as motivation somehow. it unfortunate that a conference has to close the revenue gap (and create a bigger gap among the members) with penalty money, don't they know those payments will be finite?

 

[sarge87]

I hope if we have to pay it that we do it on the condition that is distributed equally and Texas, OU, and A&M don't get most of it.

Hate to be the one to break the bad news to you, but I believe one of the conditions of keeping those three was that the rest of the confrence forfiets their share. So all of the exit pennalties from both Nebraska and Colorado would go to the three you mentioned.

That is being disputed by none other than Mizzou.

 

[kansas husker]

what if we play in a bcs game? do we keep that money?

yes the big 12 by laws only cover money that would have been paid by he confrence, since that money would go directly from the bowl to the school it would not be paid by the confrence and ours to keep.

found this article from the owh sorry if its already been posted

The most recent figures available (2008-09) showed NU getting $9.73 million from the Big 12. Over a two-year span using that figure, the Huskers would forfeit about $15.5 million under Big 12 bylaws

Link

 

[kansas husker]

I hope if we have to pay it that we do it on the condition that is distributed equally and Texas, OU, and A&M don't get most of it.

Hate to be the one to break the bad news to you, but I believe one of the conditions of keeping those three was that the rest of the confrence forfiets their share. So all of the exit pennalties from both Nebraska and Colorado would go to the three you mentioned.

That is being disputed by none other than Mizzou.

Never thought I would say this but good for MIzzou. If both us and Colorado end up having to pay it shold be divided equally. Here comes another phrase I never thought I woudl say "I hope Mizzou wins this battle."

 

[deedsker15]

shouldn't the rest of the conference just vote that they don't think nebraska and colorado should pay the penalty and thusly the other three don't dwarf the rest of the league

 

[esox72]

At common law, a liquidated damages clause will not be enforced if its purpose is to punish the wrongdoer/party in breach rather than to compensate the injured party (in which case it is referred to as a penal or penalty clause). One reason for this is that the enforcement of the term would, in effect, require an equitable order of specific performance. However, courts sitting in equity will seek to achieve a fair result and will not enforce a term that will lead to the unjust enrichment of the enforcing party.

Link

If I'm reading this correctly then bb's new TV deal,if real, would screw texass and the little 9 out of any payment from NU or CU.

 

[HUSKER 37]

Something else I was wondering a couple days ago.

Would this possibly keep us from having any televised games this season?

We don't get any money from them.

 

[sd'sker]

Big 12 may seek $15M from NU

By Lee Barfknecht

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The penalty that the not-quite-so Big 12 looks to hit Nebraska with for joining the Big Ten isn’t for 15 yards.

It could be for $15 million.

Look for attorneys on both sides to get a workout with that kind of money at stake.

Commissioner Dan Beebe didn’t respond to a World-Herald request Tuesday for answers to two questions:

Does the Big 12 expect to end up in court against Nebraska? And with the TV money the Big 12 says it will soon make, are any liquidated damage payments needed to make anyone whole?

“We’ll leave that to the lawyers," Texas President William Powers said Tuesday. “I think the conference rules are clear on that."

Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman, in an interview Tuesday on KLIN Radio, said he doesn’t want to go to court. But he also doesn’t see the need to forgo money in order to change leagues.

“I thought in the context, (an exit fee) would be inappropriate," Perlman said. “From what I understand the Big 12 has done, I think it’s even more inappropriate."

No money would be taken out of any current Nebraska account to exit.

What the Huskers might lose out on is up to 80 percent of the conference revenue distribution they otherwise would have been in line to receive over two fiscal years.

The most recent figures available (2008-09) showed NU getting $9.73 million from the Big 12. Over a two-year span using that figure, the Huskers would forfeit about $15.5 million under Big 12 bylaws.

The money potentially forfeited by Nebraska and Colorado, which is headed to the Pacific 10, was highlighted Tuesday during discussion of incentives made to keep the Big 12 together as a 10-team league.

The five so-called “leftover" schools — Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Baylor — came to an agreement, Beebe said. They wanted to entice Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma to stay by giving them more money.

Said Beebe: “They were willing, if necessary — and I fully anticipate when we do our future media deals it won’t be — to use some of the distribution they might get particularly from the departing members to make sure Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Texas were induced to stay."

Texas was appreciative of that gesture, Beebe said, though UT indicated it wasn’t “a driver for them to stay."

UT’s Powers said that there were no perks for the Longhorns.

“We do not have any guarantees from the league or our northern partners," Powers said. “There have been reports that there is going to be a special deal for some of us, using penalty money or other money to guarantee Texas and other schools of particular value.

“We are not part of that. That was not part of our consideration, and we oppose that kind of deal. We will distribute money in the Big 12 according to the normal distribution."

Texas and other schools will be allowed to pursue their own TV networks under the new Big 12 framework.

Some news organizations have speculated that Big 12 schools, under new network and cable TV deals, will each get $14 million to $17 million per year.

But there are no new TV deals yet. The Big 12’s contract with Fox runs through 2011-12, and the agreement with ABC/ESPN goes through 2015-16.

Yet Beebe is confident of good times ahead.

“We have extremely strong verification based on analysis by our consultants and media companies that we are in a tremendous position to execute future agreements that will put our member institutions on par with any in the country," he said, declining to project the amounts.

Other items of note in a downsized Big 12:

• Expansion: Beebe said the league is “comfortable" with 10 members, meaning a nine-game conference football schedule and an 18-game double round-robin in basketball.

“We’re not looking to expand at all," he said. “And certainly we wouldn’t look to expand with any institutions in our geographic five-state area."

• Football title game: The Big 12 is unsure if it will petition the NCAA to allow a title game with 10 members. The current rule is conferences must have at least 12 teams in two divisions.

“My colleagues would support having less than 12 members and still have a conference championship," Beebe said.

“But I’m not sure if we’re going to do that. There are a lot of benefits to having a nine-game schedule and scheduling out to that weekend in December — and not having the potential to knock off a team headed to the national championship."

• A league name change: “I don’t know," Beebe said. “I don’t want to give my indication now of what I think, and then have my members say, ‘What the heck are you thinking about?’”

link

 

[sd'sker]

more of the same...

Big 12 survivors plan to share NU cash
By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star

Tuesday, Jun 15, 2010 - 10:59:49 pm CDT

It’s become wise to use the words apparently and seemingly to soften anything that might be written about the future of the Big 12 with the recognition that the story may change five minutes later.

So apparently the Big 12 will continue to breathe with 10 teams, and seemingly, after some conflicting messages Tuesday, the 10 schools that will remain in the conference are all planning to share any money Nebraska and Colorado might potentially forfeit for departing the league.

Of course, before the divvying of those funds begins, there remains a rather important question: Should Nebraska even face a financial penalty for its departure to the Big Ten?

UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman doesn’t think so.

Via e-mail, Perlman told the Journal Star Tuesday that he was reluctant to get into specifics on the issue at this point, but added: “We understand what the Big 12 bylaw says. We also understand the context that makes it inappropriate to impose that bylaw on Nebraska. … We will just have to see how this works out.”

During a Tuesday morning appearance on KLIN’s (1400 AM) radio show “Jack & John in the Morning,” Perlman said he hoped to resolve the issue amicably.

He also noted that there isn’t a penalty provision in the Big 12 bylaws.

“There is a liquidated damages provision that purports to make the existing members whole,” Perlman said. “But from how I see the financial arrangement that they’ve been able to achieve, they’re better off than they were when we were in it.”

Certainly Nebraska isn’t leaving a conference in financial ruins.

The Big 12 distributed $139 million to its members this past fiscal year, more than ever before.

And if you’re to believe the various reports of the past two days, schools remaining in the Big 12 are set to make even more money as the conference prepares to sign a new TV contract deal.

Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe was clear to point out Tuesday that the Big 12 doesn’t have a future television deal that has been reached yet. But he said the conference has received “extremely, extremely strong verification” that the league is in position to reach future agreements that will put it on par with its peers.

Asked about potential financial penalties for Nebraska and Colorado, Beebe said Big 12 attorneys are in the process of looking at the league bylaws.

“But I think that the situation that we analyze is that we withhold revenue of up to 80 percent of what they would receive in the next two years,” Beebe said.

That’d be a significant amount of money considering Nebraska’s athletic department last year netted between $9 million and $10 million in revenue shared by the Big 12.

While obviously preferring to avoid such a hit, Nebraska would figure to make up the difference in relatively swift fashion when joining a Big Ten league that is expected to annually pay each of its schools around $20 million in league revenue sharing.

In an interesting twist, Beebe said on Tuesday morning that that the five schools that weren’t being pursued by the Pac-10 (Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Missouri and Baylor) offered to pass any potential revenue surrendered by NU and CU over to Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

“They (the five schools not in Pac-10 discussion) looked at life in the media evaluations we had going forward, and those didn’t look very good without Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma,” Beebe said.

And so, Beebe said, the five schools were willing to give away some of the distribution money they might receive from departing members “to make sure that Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Texas were induced to stay with them in the conference.”

On Tuesday night, Big 12 assistant commissioner Bob Burda said the 10 remaining schools in the Big 12 will share “all withdrawal fees withheld from Colorado and Nebraska.”

Burda called earlier talks about uneven distribution of the penalty funds to Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M a “good-faith offer” by the five schools not targeted by the Pac-10.

However it’s resolved, Beebe maintained the belief Tuesday that the Big 12 is “well-positioned” to continue as one of the most successful conferences in the country.

“Any kind of exercise like this results in some bruises that we’re going to have to heal,” Beebe said. “But I think there’s also even a higher understanding of how much we need each other. And my full anticipation as we move forward, and we heal the bruises, is that we’re going to have a level of commitment that wasn’t there in the past.”

link

 

[cornhuskers4ever]

My only question is asking if Colorado is being fined for jumping from the Big XII to the Pack 10? It sounds to me like another unfair stipulation on Nebraska from the Big XII. I hope Nebraska fights this and the Judge laughs in the Big XII's face.

 

[fro daddy]

My only question is asking if Colorado is being fined for jumping from the Big XII to the Pack 10? It sounds to me like another unfair stipulation on Nebraska from the Big XII. I hope Nebraska fights this and the Judge laughs in the Big XII's face.

its for all schools that leave, including Colorado. In no way is nebraska being singled out.

In fact it is looking more and more like Pearlman doest have a leg to stand on. His orginal arguement was that the big12 would disolve. it didnt. now he is agrueing about a tv deal that doesnt exist. Even he wants to argue that the BIG12 would be making more with a new deal once the current one expires he is still off base. Its simple fact that the current big12 tv deal is outdated and under vauled. its like selling your house before a market boom. The big12 signed a huge deal years ago before the market vaule of such deals exploded. That means the current deal sucks and if worth much less now than it would have been if the same deal would have been signed on 2 years ago. Aslo the next deal done would have been much larger regardless of anything that has taken place since december because of this fact. In truth one could argue and would be right to say that if NE and CU had stayed the numbers being estimated for the new deal would be even greater. So really you could say NE & CU are costing the other teams money because they have already estimated a market loss of around 9% with those two leaving. That is a nearly a 10% loss on an estimated $140-150 million dollar deal. Roughly in the ball park of $12-15 million a year that the conference can no longer make due to them leaving.

NU and CU are going to end up paying. I see no way around it. It was a known fact before they even considered leaving. Every school knew about it and so did many fans. Heck, i figured MU would be forking over the money also. IMHO Harvey is starting to look a bit weasel-ish trying to back out of it. He did what he thought was best for the school. That decision came with goods and bads. This is part of that.

But then again, this is just my commonsense opinion.

 

[HuskerJosh]

In no way is it looking "more and more likely" that Nebraska doesn't have a leg to stand on. In order for a liquidated damages clause to stand, damage has to actually exist. This speculative new TV deal announced by Beebe, if finalized, will help prove Nebraska's point that no damage was done. If every school in the conference is now going to make MORE money, where was the damage? I'd bet my own money there's no way the Big 12 gets anywhere near what they are seeking from Nebraska. They will likely settle for far below $15M.

 

[sd'sker]

My only question is asking if Colorado is being fined for jumping from the Big XII to the Pack 10? It sounds to me like another unfair stipulation on Nebraska from the Big XII. I hope Nebraska fights this and the Judge laughs in the Big XII's face.

its for all schools that leave, including Colorado. In no way is nebraska being singled out.

In fact it is looking more and more like Pearlman doest have a leg to stand on. His orginal arguement was that the big12 would disolve. it didnt. now he is agrueing about a tv deal that doesnt exist. Even he wants to argue that the BIG12 would be making more with a new deal once the current one expires he is still off base. Its simple fact that the current big12 tv deal is outdated and under vauled. its like selling your house before a market boom. The big12 signed a huge deal years ago before the market vaule of such deals exploded. That means the current deal sucks and if worth much less now than it would have been if the same deal would have been signed on 2 years ago. Aslo the next deal done would have been much larger regardless of anything that has taken place since december because of this fact. In truth one could argue and would be right to say that if NE and CU had stayed the numbers being estimated for the new deal would be even greater. So really you could say NE & CU are costing the other teams money because they have already estimated a market loss of around 9% with those two leaving. That is a nearly a 10% loss on an estimated $140-150 million dollar deal. Roughly in the ball park of $12-15 million a year that the conference can no longer make due to them leaving.

NU and CU are going to end up paying. I see no way around it. It was a known fact before they even considered leaving. Every school knew about it and so did many fans. Heck, i figured MU would be forking over the money also. IMHO Harvey is starting to look a bit weasel-ish trying to back out of it. He did what he thought was best for the school. That decision came with goods and bads. This is part of that.

But then again, this is just my commonsense opinion.

that is not the point though. they do not have to compensate the conference for future possible increases in revenue, they just have to compensate the conference to make it whole. if the conference will already be whole, plus some, then the liquidated damages will be irrelevant. it would be different if the payout was substantially lessened because of NU and CU departure, and each school received less money than they were expecting from the contracts with NU and CU, but they will be making even more. the goal is to make whole, and no courts do not allow financial windfalls, which is exactly what this would be because the conference would have already been made whole, plus making more money, and any compensation for early departure would just be extra money to penalize NU and CU and give the conference a windfall.

you cannot stipulate penalties, the goal is to make the injured party whole, and the court never allows a windfall (unjust enrichment of the enforcing party, or any party for that matter). those are the principles on which NU's argument will hinge.