HUNTINGTON – Marshall University has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the University of Pittsburgh for breaching a contract to play a football game during the 2020 COVID season.
The Marshall University Board of Governors filed its complaint December 23 in Cabell Circuit Court against the University of Pittsburgh of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education.
According to the complaint, the schools’ football teams were scheduled to play two games – the first on October 1, 2016, in Pittsburgh and the second on September 26, 2020, in Huntington.
The Thundering Herd traveled to play at Pitt for the 2016 game. The Panthers defeated the Herd 43-27. The following spring, the schools agreed to amend the contract regarding the date of the 2020 game. It was rescheduled for September 12, 2020.
The agreement “does not reference the occurrence of a pandemic or epidemic as a permissible basis for cancellation of a game,” according to the complaint.
Pitt is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, which announced its plans and rules for football for the 2020 season on July 29, 2020. Specifically, the ACC said its member schools would play an 11-game schedule consisting of 10 conference games and one non-conference game each. It also advised that the non-conference game must be played in the home state of that ACC school.
Marshall was a member of Conference USA at the time. On August 7, 2020, C-USA announced its member schools would play eight conference football games and up to four non-conference games with no location restrictions.
In a letter dated August 7, 2020, former Pitt Director of Athletics Steve Pederson told former Marshall AD Mike Hamrick his school was unable to participate in the September 12 game because of the ACC’s COVID-19 rules.
“However, because Marshall was the home team in 2020, the express language of Section 2 of the agreement provides that its conference’s rules and regulations (that is, those of C-USA) govern the 2020 game, and not those of the ACC,” the complaint states. “Per the C-USA rules, the 2020 game could have been played at Marshall as contemplated by the agreement and the parties’ negotiations prior to August 7, 2020.”
The complaint notes that Pitt played in four other states for five conferences games in the 2020 season “despite Pitt’s position that the ACC’s rules regarding the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to travel to Huntington to play the 2020 game against Marshall.” The Panthers also played a non-conference game at home September 12, 2020, against Austin Peay State University from Clarksville, Tennessee.
After Pederson’s letter, Pitt and Marshall negotiated to reschedule the 2020 game, considering dates in 2026 and 2028 in Huntington. But the complaint says no final date ever was confirmed.
On September 27, 2024, Marshall sent a letter demanding Pitt satisfy its contractual obligation by rescheduling the game or remitting the sum of $1 million pursuant to the contract.
On November 26, 2024, Pitt filed a declaratory judgment action in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, seeking a declaration that it was not obligated to reschedule the game or pay damages to Marshall.
“The Pennsylvania action … was the first time that Marshall was put on notice of Pitt’s breach of the agreement, by Pitt’s expressed intention not to honor its obligations under the agreement,” the complaint states. “Based on its sovereign immunity from private suits brought in courts of other states, Marshall is seeking dismissal of the Pennsylvania action.”
Marshall accuses Pitt of breach of contract, saying the Panthers’ participation in the 2020 game “was not impossible … and is still not impossible.” It also says the breach is “without justification or excuse” and has damaged Marshall.
Marshall seeks $1 million, pre- and post-judgment interests and further relief.
Marshall is being represented by Susan L. Deniker, Shawn A. Morgan and Stephenee R. Gandee of Steptoe & Johnson in Bridgeport. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Paul Farrell.
Christian Spears, Marshall’s current athletic director, previously was the deputy athletic director and chief operating officer at Pitt before arriving in Huntington in 2022.
Cabell Circuit Court case number 24-C-476