Picked this up from Rivals, and it's a good question for the lawyers.
That line is there to help the conference if a school leaves and say, for instance, the TV deal drops by 20%. I think there is definitely a case to be made that CU and NU withdrawing does NOT result in a financial hardship for the remaining members.
A. Even with the original TV deal, the money, I believe would have stayed the same, the remaining schools would have divvied up the additional revenue.
B. The news of the new TV deal makes it very difficult for anyone to say that CU and NU leaving results in financial hardship for the remaining members.
Effect of Giving Notice. If a Member Institution gives proper Notice pursuant to Section
3.1 (a “Withdrawing Member”), then the Members agree that such withdrawal would
cause financial hardship to the remaining Member Institutions of the Conference, and that
the financial consequences cannot be measured or estimated with certainty at this time.
Therefore, in recognition of the obligations and responsibilities of each Member Institution
to all other Member Institutions of the Conference, each Member Institution agrees that the
amount of revenue that would have been otherwise distributable to a Withdrawing Member pursuant to Section 2 herein for the final two (2) years of the Current Term or the thencurrent
Additional Term, as the case may be, shall be reduced by fifty percent (50%), with
the remainder to be distributed to the other Member Institutions who are not Withdrawing
Members or Breaching Members (as defined below) as additional Conference revenues in
accordance with Section 2 herein. The Member Institutions agree that such reduction in
the amount of revenues distributed to a Withdrawing Member is reasonable and shall be in
the form of liquidated damages and not be construed as a penalty.
That line is there to help the conference if a school leaves and say, for instance, the TV deal drops by 20%. I think there is definitely a case to be made that CU and NU withdrawing does NOT result in a financial hardship for the remaining members.
A. Even with the original TV deal, the money, I believe would have stayed the same, the remaining schools would have divvied up the additional revenue.
B. The news of the new TV deal makes it very difficult for anyone to say that CU and NU leaving results in financial hardship for the remaining members.