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Utah Valley University sports teams will be allowed to play in upcoming Western Athletic Conference postseason tournaments amid an ongoing legal dispute between the school and the league over exit fees.
Utah 3rd District Court Judge Denise Porter issued a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction Tuesday pending further litigation in the case.
Porter ordered the WAC to permit UVU to participate in all WAC and NCAA postseason tournaments and/or championships. She further ordered the conference to “immediately” reinstate the school to all WAC-sponsored media broadcasts and make UVU teams, coaches and athletes eligible for postseason awards.
“The court is persuaded that careful review of the motion pleadings, exhibits and papers show that UVU will likely prevail upon its claims and is entitled to the equitable remedy of a restraining order as relief to reinstate their participation in the conference while the fee issue is litigated to prevent irreparable harm,” the judge wrote.
What is the dispute between UVU and the WAC about?
The WAC filed a lawsuit against the Orem-based school earlier this month in district court in Tarrant County, Texas, alleging UVU has refused to pay a $1 million “contractually obligated” exit fee.
UVU accepted an invitation to join the Big West in June 2025.
Because the university didn’t make the payment by Jan. 31, it was deemed no longer a member in good standing with the conference, according to the lawsuit. The WAC barred UVU from conference tournament and NCAA championship play and from appearing on conference-sponsored television, radio or other media packages.
UVU filed its own complaint against the WAC in Utah about two weeks later seeking 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.
“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.”
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.
Porter found in her ruling the WAC tried to “squeeze out” UVU while still bound to the commitment agreement and unilaterally moved to rescind it in a “manner that was unfair towards a vested right UVU had earned by performing pursuant to the contract to expect diminished or excused exit fees.”
Negotiations failed to reach a resolution
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. WAC headquarters are located in Arlington, Texas.
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."
Both sides say they tried to resolve the issue without going to court.
Porter found in her order that the damage to UVU outweighs the damage to the WAC. She wrote that restrictions the conference placed on the school would cause “significant” harm to its institutional brand and business. The WAC not getting the $1 million exit fee is not irreparable harm, she wrote.
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.