Rutgers elects to sue the Big East over exit fee

[madinmaryland]

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) -- Rutgers University is suing the Big East Conference, trying to avoid paying an exit fee.

Rutgers is trying to avoid a $10 million hit for leaving en route to the Big Ten. Big East bylaws state a school must give 27 months' notice and pay a $10 million withdrawal fee.

The suit says the Big East selectively enforced the rules. Rutgers claims some schools did and some did not have to give notice or pay the fee on their way out of the embattled conference. The Big East allowed Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and TCU to leave the league before the 27-month period had run its course.

The conference voted to increase its exit fee from $5 million to $10 million last month. Rutgers did not vote on the motion, but voiced opposition.

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/ncaa/12/05/rutgers-big-east-lawsuit.ap/index.html#ixzz2EEvfHNDF

[Downwinder]

1. Does everything have to have a contract buyout?

[trotsky]

2. College athletics has become more like the pros: it's all about the money.

The difference is, in college the athletes don't get the millions - the schools do.

[Downwinder]

3. Is the Big East slicing and dicing a school's

membership and selling it as a security? That's the purpose of all of these buyout contracts.

[trotsky]

4. Again, it's all about the money.

The conferences have shifted from complementing each other to competing with each other for funds. The Big Ten is gobbling up whatever schools it can to become a 16-team mega conference. Along with that comes all the TV revenue, etc. It's the future of college sports. Football, at least!

[KamaAina]

5. Ah yes, the 16-team mega-conference.

Because that worked out so well for the WAC.

[JonLP24]

7. It's always been about the money

In the early days of television, they restricted the number of games because less fans were attending games, they did it to improve gate receipts. Div I-A schools were chosen based on attendance and ratings rather than the size of the schools.

[Condem]

6. Keep an eye on Maryland's exit fee.

A couple of ACC presidents are mighty interested in those proceedings.