MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A Monongalia County judge’s ruling will allow West Virginia University’s third-tier rights agreement with IMG College to continue, denying a motion for summary judgment by West Virginia Radio Corp.
The university has 11 years remaining on the $86.5 million, 12-year agreement enacted with IMG in the summer of 2013. Business Court Circuit Judge Thomas Evans validated the contract, which resulted from a second round of bidding last year after the state attorney general’s office nixed the first request for proposal process.
MORE: Read the 24-page ruling
After West Virginia Radio, the parent company of MetroNews, contested elements of the first round of bidding, State attorney general Patrick Morrisey said in April 2013 his office found “significant errors and sloppiness” in Oliver Luck’s handling of the initial bidding. Then-WVU president Jim Clements removed Luck and other members of an evaluation panel from taking part in the second round of bidding.
West Virginia Radio sued the WVU Board of Governors, WVU Foundation, Inc., West Virginia Media Holdings, Andrew Payne, David Alvarez, Bray Cary, Ralph Ballard, Luck, Clements and IMG College.