- UVU wants the WAC to allow its sports teams to participate in postseason play.
- The WAC banned UVU from conference tournaments because it failed to pay an exit fee.
- Negotiations between the school and conference were unsuccessful, leading to a court fight.
Utah Valley University wants a judge to put the brakes on a Western Athletic Conference decision to bar the school’s athletic teams from postseason play.
The Orem-based school filed a motion in 4th District Court in Utah for an injunction requiring the conference to allow its teams to participate in upcoming WAC tournaments and championships and to reinstate UVU teams to all WAC-sponsored media broadcasts. The university requested an emergency hearing before Feb. 23.
“Indeed, over the course of the next three months, the WAC will conduct eight post-season tournaments that are the last — and in some instances only — opportunity for the student-athletes of WAC member schools and/or student-athletes to qualify for national NCAA tournaments that are typically broadcast nationwide (if not worldwide)," according to the court filing.
“The harm if UVU’s teams and student-athletes are not permitted to participate in these tournaments is unquantifiable.”
The request for an injunction comes in response to a lawsuit the WAC filed against the university in 17th District court in Tarrant County, Texas, earlier this month alleging it failed to pay a “contractually obligated” $1 million exit fee as it moves to the Big West Conference in July. As a result, the WAC banned UVU from WAC and NCAA tournament competition as well as from appearances on conference-sponsored television, radio or other media packages.
Failed negotiations
Both sides say they have tried to resolve the issue without going to court.
“After making multiple attempts to come to an agreement with the WAC, we are taking legal steps to protect our rights and allow our student athletes to participate in post-season play and reinstate all broadcast rights so that student athletes from all WAC schools can cheer on their teams wherever they reside,” UVU spokesperson Sharon Turner said in a statement.
“Throughout this process, we remain steadfast in our commitment to placing the best interests of our student athletes at the forefront of all we do. Because the matter is subject to active litigation, the university will not be commenting further at this time.”
The WAC sued in the Texas county where its headquarters are located. In a separate court filing, UVU argues the case belongs in Utah, specifically Utah County, because the events giving rise to this dispute occurred where the school is located.
UVU contends that as other schools fled the WAC in 2024, the conference proposed the remaining members sign a “commitment agreement” running through the end of the 2025-2026 academic year. In exchange, the conference promised additional revenue and “would include reduced and/or waived exit fees” should a school decide to leave after that time, according to court documents.
The agreement would distribute about $5.6 million to retained members paid for by exit fees from departing members, including close to $300,000 June 2024 and another $1.15 million last June, according to the UVU court filing.
UVU says knowing that the agreement would not keep the conference together, it accepted an invitation to join the Big West in June 2025. That same month, court documents say, the Texas-based members of the WAC announced plans to form a “strategic alliance” with the Atlantic Sun Conference starting July 2026.
Also, Utah Tech and Southern Utah announced they were leaving for the Big Sky Conference. Neither were required to pay the exit fee. When UVU asked why, it was also told that the WAC had “pre-negotiated an exit deal” with those schools, according to court documents.
“The WAC, for all intents and purposes, was effectively disbanding at the end of the two-year term contemplated by the commitment agreement,” according to the UVU lawsuit. “But the WAC commissioner and the Texas schools wanted more.”
Leaving for the Big West
In its lawsuit, the WAC maintains that UVU breached its contract with the conference in failing to pay the exit fee, rendering the school a member not in good standing.
“The WAC has been consistent, upfront, and open with UVU and has attempted to avoid this dispute,“ per the lawsuit. ”Unfortunately, UVU preferred to elevate this dispute and refused to comply with contractual obligations as expressly agreed to and as set forth in the bylaws."
UVU informed the WAC last June that it intends to join the Big West starting July 1, 2026. The conference sent a letter to school administrators reminding them about the exit fee shortly after. On Jan. 22, UVU President Astrid Tuminez wrote back saying the university “will not pay the exit fee,” according to the lawsuit. The deadline for the payment was Jan. 31.
UVU joined the WAC in 2013. In the school’s “notice to exit” cited in the lawsuit, Tuminez wrote it “has been a privilege to compete in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). UVU and the WAC’s partnership has elevated both organizations and has impacted student athletes for good.”
Tuminez announced last month that she will step down as president, effective May 1.
The conference argues that Tarrant County, Texas, is the proper venue for the case because UVU participated in governance and oversight of the WAC there, signed a contract to abide by conference bylaws and recruits athletes and employees in the state.
The WAC crowns champions in nine women’s sports and seven men’s sports. Conference tournaments and championships in track and field, basketball, softball, baseball and golf are coming up in the next three months, starting Feb. 27 with men’s and women’s indoor track.