Define "industry standard" with some examples. I find a wide ranging amount of examples that are all over the place, but all with the specific intent of protecting the conference as necessary. The Big10 and SEC for example don't seem all that punitive, because who the Hell is going to leave one of those conferences? The ACC on the other hand is 3x the conference operating budget, which is massive.
Penalties for leaving are structured commensurate to the specific protections the conference believes it needs at the time they are agreed to. At the time ours were agreed to they were what was deemed necessary to protect from what was happening. You differentiating some BIG difference between the Pacs agreement ant the MWs agreement is also not applicable as a differentiator since the MW also now has the P4 exemption for all schools, and as near as I can tell had it BEFORE the new Pac did. So again, Apples to Apples.
Absolutely, and I fully expect that this time as well. They get negotiated every single time because that's the way the legal system works, no matter the type of case being litigated. Criminal or civil, it doesn't matter, it's all a negotiation before anything ends up in court. You lay out your case to your opponent, they lay out their case to you, and then you both decide your tolerance for risk and lawyers fees if you actually take it to someone else to decide, judge or jury. Stuff happens in the middle to try and advance your side, but ultimately its about how much you're willing to risk.
Nobody TRIED to get paid this way, but based on the actions of the parties involved this is how it's working out. It's "unprecedented" only because the situation of the scheduling agreement is also unprecedented. Both agreements were years apart and have no bearing on each other. You can't say "it isn't fair that it should work out so well in their favor"... I mean you can try, but it's a crap argument. What was the MW supposed to do when approached about the scheduling agreement? Just say "Ok cool... we don't need to protect our conference... you guys are cool right?" No, absolutely not.
Doesn't mean its a bad argument to make, and they're obviously making it, but it holds so little water based on their actions its not even funny.
Not the MW problem.
*See: Negotiations.
No it isn't. Again, you can try to use it to gain some sympathy with a judge or jury, but ultimately your actions prove against you.
Take advantage? Again, the MW is a private institution whose only responsibility is to their members. They. Do. Not. Have. To. Serve. You. It was a negotiation and the one with the power sets the price. Don't pay it if you don't want.
Ultimately I don't think anything actually makes it to a court room for a jury or judge to decide. If it does then we'll see, but I don't expect a judge is going to wade too deeply into these waters. To my knowledge not one of these cases has ever made it to a point of a judge or jury deciding an outcome. The pressure from the larger conferences would definitely come into play in setting any sort of precedent.
