The legal battle between West Virginia U. and the Big East Conference is finally over.
WVU announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with the two pending civil actions in West Virginia and Rhode Island to officially begin full membership in the Big 12 Conference in July.
“I would like to emphasize how excited we are as an institution, not just as an athletic department,” said WVU Athletic Director Oliver Luck. “The member institutions are much like us.”
WVU President James P. Clements said the move will help shape the future direction of the University.
“We are in great company in the Big 12, joining a group of world-class research universities – many of them large public land-grant flagship institutions like WVU,” Clements said. “Our partnership with the Big 12 is an investment in WVU’s future. We’re looking forward to the tremendous opportunities it presents all across our University.”
The financial details of the settlement between West Virginia and the Big East were not disclosed, but multiple reports claimed it totaled near $20 million.
WVU has already paid half of the required $5 million exit fee.
Luck said the move to the Big 12 will establish firm financial footing for the University’s athletic department for years to come with the annual Big 12television payout currently totaling between $18 and $19 million.
“It’s a very healthy television payout, and it’s important we maintain our self-sufficient status,” Luck said. “I think with our move to the Big 12, we’ll be in excellent position to do so.”
Luck said that while WVU will be a full member of the conference, it will enter with a prorated payout for the first three years and will receive 50 percent in the first year, 67 percent in the second year and 87 percent in the third year.
The Big 12 recently signed a 13-year, $1.17 billion television contract with Fox and an 8-year, $480 million deal with ESPN /ABC.
“We will be in very strong financial shape through the first couple years as well as when we get into years three and four and see the full payout,” Luck said.
Luck said that all sports, with the exception of men’s soccer and rifle, will begin competing in the Big 12 next year.
The rifle team will continue to compete in the Great American Rifle Conference, while men’s soccer is exploring options as the Big 12 does not sponsor the sport.
The athletic department is now obligated to add a men’s sport, but Luck said it won’t happen until at least 2013.
“We are looking at a handful of sports which at one point were sponsored by our athletic department,” Luck said. “We haven’t made any decision to which sport will be added nor when it will be added.”
Men’s tennis, men’s golf, and men’s track and field are being considered.
WVU announced on Oct. 28, 2011 that it would become full members of the Big 12 on July 1, despite the required 27- month waiting period required by Big East bylaws.
Big East Commissioner John Marinatto, who has been adamant to not allow West Virginia to leave the Big East early, announced Tuesday that the Big East Board of Directors had voted to terminate West Virginia’s membership effective June 30, 2012.
The Big 12 released its television schedule just after West Virginia announced its settlement with the Big East.
For the first time since 1942, West Virginia will not play rival Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl.
Luck said he has a close relationship with Pittsburgh Athletic Director Steve Pedersen, and that it’s a possibility the two would talk about a future non-conference game.
“We had a great legal team. Our administration was extraordinarily supportive of our inclusion in the Big 12. As a University, it was an absolutely solid move for us as a financial perspective, from an academic perspective, from a research perspective and from an athletic perspective,” Luck said.
“I think we all decided that we weren’t going to waver one bit. We were going to see this through because at the end of this day it’s a tremendous move for West Virginia University.”