The Holiday Bowl has sued UCLA and the Pac-12 Conference, seeking millions in damages officials say were incurred because of the Bruins’ last-minute decision to withdraw from the 2021 game.
UCLA was slated to face the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Dec. 28, 2021, but the Bruins withdrew from the game hours before kickoff. The Bruins cited a number of players testing positive with Covid for their decision, but both bowl officials and N.C. State athletic staff blamed UCLA for not being more open about their situation.
According to ActionNetwork.com, the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Superior Court in San Diego County, is seeking more than $3 million in damages from that canceled game. The Holiday Bowl and the Pac-12 have been at odds about the conference reimbursing the bowl for damages.
In return, the Holiday Bowl did not pay the Pac-12 for Oregon’s participation in the 2022 Holiday Bowl.
The Pac-12 had recently threatened to sue the bowl for non-payment from that game. It now appears the Holiday Bowl has drawn first blood in court in the ongoing dispute.
The lawsuit claims the Holiday Bowl “has engaged and continues to engage in good faith with the Pac-12 to negotiate a resolution of the dispute without success.”
This is just the latest bad news for the beleaguered Pac-12. The biggest blow, of course, is the loss of conference titans UCLA and the USC Trojans to the Big Ten. On the financial front, Comcast is seeking a refund from Pac-12 Networks for $50 million in overpayments it says the conference received between 2012 and 2016.
