The Pac-12 Network is taking Dish Network to court for withholding payments and violating the terms of their distribution agreement all stemming from the 2020 COVID-impacted season.
The conference is seeking damages and injunctive relief, according to The Mercury News, in order “to both recoup the license fees Dish has already improperly withheld and to prevent any continued withholding of fees due under the parties’ agreement,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed on October 6 in U.S. District Court in Colorado.
According to the lawsuit, Dish pays the Pac-12 Network a monthly fee based on the number of subscribers it has to the Pac-12 Network. Also, Dish is due a rebate if the network fails to broadcast a minimum numbers of games in a season, usually about 36. In 2020, the Pac-12 Network broadcast only one game: San Diego State at Colorado.
In February of 2022, the Pac-12 offered a rebate for the 2020 season and according to the lawsuit, Dish accepted a month later. However, the lawsuit alleges that Dish “also inexplicably demanded from the Pac-12 additional rebates for the two contract years before 2020-21.” The Pac-12 contends that Dish’s claim is “improper and unreasonable” because Dish “could not possibly have suffered losses during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 contract years from COVID-19-related football shortfalls occurring one to two years thereafter.”
Dish declined to comment per its policy on “ongoing litigation matters.”
The Pac-12 also declined to comment.
