The Ohio Valley Conference Tuesday sued Eastern Kentucky University and Jacksonville State University over athletic conference exit fees. the OVC maintains EKU and Jacksonville State owe the league one million dollars apiece.
Eastern and Jacksonville State left the OVC, of which EKU was a founding member, this summer to join the ASUN Athletic Conference. The suit against EKU was filed in Franklin Circuit Court.
A news release from the Ohio Valley Conference says the payment of exit fees was approved by all OVC members including Eastern and Jacksonville. OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche is quoted saying, “To decide now that they don’t have to pay the fee not only violates their contract, it is unfair to the OVC’s member institutions, with whom these schools enjoyed long and mutually beneficial relationships.”
Eastern issued a statement saying, “We are aware of a lawsuit filed by the Ohio Valley Conference regarding EKU’s exit from the conference. We do not agree with the assertions of the conference regarding our exit. We will articulate the merits of our position in the proper arena.”
