MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A West Virginia Radio Corp. official vowed to continue the fight in the ongoing WVU media rights lawsuit despite a judge’s ruling the contract between IMG and the university cannot be voided.
Radio Corp. Executive Bob Gwynne used a basketball analogy to describe the company’s thoughts.
“I thought on the voidance issue we had a slam dunk,” Gwynne said. “Obviously, at this point we missed the slam dunk. We have a good game plan, and the game goes on with regard to all the other issues in the case.”
Judge Thomas Evans issued his order last week. He ruled that there is no language in state code that could be used to void WVU-IMG College’s media rights agreement.
In a statement, WVU Spokeswoman Becky Lofstead said “West Virginia University appreciates Judge Evans’ ruling upholding the University’s contract with our multimedia rights partner, IMG College, and we look forward to moving ahead with a continuing relationship with IMG College and the resources it will provide to help continue to strengthen our athletic program.”
Evans is based out of Jackson County, and the order was not added to the Monongalia County case file as of Friday, July 25. Evans was appointed to oversee the case regarding media rights and procurement issues.
West Virginia Radio Corp. initially sued WVU and several officials over various procurement issues, one of which was the awarding of the university’s media rights to IMG College.
An investigation by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey found WVU had not followed its own procedures when it initially awarded the rights, but committed no intentional wrongdoing. The contract was rebid and again awarded to IMG…