The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in New York, seeks either damages of at least US$21 million or for the conference, which comprises colleges in the southern United States, to honour the extension allegedly agreed by both parties.
In filing the suit, ESPN has claimed that Conference USA did not fulfil its obligations to allow the network to consider a final offer from Fox, as apparently mandated by the last contract between the two parties. ESPN also claims to have had an agreement in principle before Conference USA decided to sell its rights to Fox.
ESPN and Conference USA signed a five-year deal in 2005 worth $21.9 million. However, the new deal with Fox, which sees the network air a minimum of 20 regular-season American football games and 10 regular-season basketball contests every season, is worth $43 million.
“We are very disappointed that ESPN has taken this action,” Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said in a statement. “We have had the benefit of legal counsel throughout this process and we disagree with the positions they have taken.”
Banowsky added: “We are prepared to vigorously defend any litigation initiated by them. As we said earlier, the idea that they were disadvantaged is incorrect. They had every opportunity to step up and address our concerns, and they simply did not.”
