Eastern Kentucky University and the Ohio Valley Conference have reached a settlement regarding legal action filed over EKU’s move to the ASUN Athletic Conference.
The one million dollars sought by the OVC goes back two years ago when Eastern left the conference and joined the ASUN. The OVC sued EKU and the Richmond School countersued over the exit penalty. Then on Friday, the EKU Board of Regents approved a $750,000 settlement at a special board meeting. Despite the cost to the university, EKU President David McFaddin doesn’t see the settlement through the lens of winners and losers.
“So I think if you look across the national landscape schools entering and exiting conferences is a pretty common thing that happens. It is the cost of doing business, entrance fees exit fees. In this case it was an exit penalty,” said McFaddin.
EKU is returning more than $419,000 in final distribution payments to the OVC plus almost $331,000 in Eastern athletics revenues. McFaddin said the settlement will have no impact on the rest of the EKU campus.
McFaddin acknowledged an urging from Franklin Circuit Court helped resolve the issue.
“Once we had some clear pathway with Judge Shepherd telling us you need to find an amicable separation agreement back in April, I think that kind of gave us the pathway to start saying we can find a middle ground,” said McFaddin.
McFaddin said it took a while to get to a number, but he added he’s glad the university finalized the deal in the current fiscal year. He said EKU can now, quote, “start the new year with kind of our eyes forward and our heads up and eager for what’s coming next.”
McFaddin spoke about Eastern being a founding institution for the Ohio Valley Conference. He said it got “kind of murky” at the end when EKU made the move to the ASUN. The EKU president noted he wishes the best for the OVC and added the future is bright in the ASUN. McFaddin said everything would be settled up Friday and money sent to the OVC.
Here's the statement from the Ohio Valley Conference regarding the settlement:
“We are pleased to have this matter behind us so we can appropriately devote all our attention to the issues that matter most to us, which are providing our student-athletes with an exceptional experience and moving our outstanding league strategically forward as the landscape of Division I intercollegiate athletics continues to evolve.” – OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche
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