CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Attorneys representing Florida State University and the Atlantic Coast Conference are scheduled to appear in Mecklenburg County court on Friday in the first hearing related to dueling lawsuits over the league's exit feet and grant of rights contract.
Florida State became the first school to try to sue its way out of the ACC in December. However, the ACC filed its own suit against FSU the previous day. Clemson University sued the ACC earlier this week in South Carolina with the conference filing its own countersuit in Mecklenburg County. Both schools are challenging the ACC's exit fee and media rights agreement. ESPN joined the lawsuit against Florida State, arguing the university's complaint exposed trade secrets by disclosing media rights deals.
The grant of rights is a contract that guarantees the ACC will own the broadcast rights to all of its member schools' home games through 2036, basically locking those schools into league membership until then.
FSU attorney David Ashburn said the ACC's grant of rights violates antitrust law and has unenforceable withdrawal penalties, saying it would cost a school $572 million to leave the ACC. FSU's lawsuit also accuses the conference of breach of contract and violation of public policy. Florida State leaders say the ACC refuses to change its revenue distribution model to match the school's value, as rival programs in the Big Ten and SEC are in line to receive significantly larger media rights payouts moving forward.
"It is a simple math problem," Michael Alford, FSU's athletic director, said. "A very clear math problem."
ACC attorneys say that Clemson and FSU agreed to be in the conference until 2036 by signing the amended grant of rights. The league's lawsuit against Clemson even provides a written statement from university president James Clements after a deal was finalized in 2016 with ESPN to launch the ACC Network.
In the suit, Clemson's attorneys say the ACC's exit fee increased from $20.75 million in 2012 to $51.9 million and now $140 million, more than seven times the exit fee first adopted in 2011. Attorneys also compared the ACC's exit fee to that of the Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC. The ACC's $140 million is significantly higher than each, with the SEC's penalty of $45 million with no notice being the largest exit fee stated in the suit. And that doesn't include the cost to buy back their media rights, which could cost hundreds of millions more.
ACC member schools signed an amended grant of rights after Maryland left the league to join the Big 10 in 2013. At the time, universities were looking for stability, as several Division I schools joined new conferences, including ACC newcomers Louisville, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, who defected from the Big East. With major college sports, particularly football, facing another seismic shift in the landscape, Clemson and Florida State officials believe more revenue is critical to keeping up with the Big Ten and SEC.
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