FSU sues ACC, first steps in leaving conference

William Huff, Thomasville Times-Enterprise, Ga.
·4 min read

Dec. 27—TALLAHASSEE- During a meeting late Friday morning, Florida State administrators voted to approve legal action against the Atlantic Coast Conference. This lawsuit challenging the ACC grant of rights is the first step in Florida State making its way out of the conference. Naturally, fans have a lot of questions. Why sue the ACC? What exactly is the grant of rights? Why is FSU leaving in the first place?

A grant of rights essentially signs over legal ownership of the rights to broadcast games from the schools to their conference. This means that when fans watch a Florida State vs Duke football game, the ACC owns the rights to that broadcast. Each member school of the ACC signed this grant of rights back in 2013. They signed it after Maryland left the ACC for the Big 10 and the agreement was an effort to prevent any other schools from leaving the conference. Unfortunately for Florida State, that has led them to a near impossible situation.

Florida State is attempting the leave the ACC due to its lack of prowess in the football arena. Florida State may have an excellent women's soccer program and a proud basketball history, but nothing compares to the amount of attention and money that Seminoles football brings in. It's a sad truth, but for a lot of college athletic programs football is all that matters. and the sad truth for the ACC is that their football prowess has become minuscule.

A conference that once bolstered such legendary football programs like Miami and powerhouses like Clemson, now has just four schools ranked in the top 25 and was just bumped out of the CFP for a pair of one loss teams. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Florida State knows that if it stays in the ACC, it just can't compete with SEC and Big 10 schools.

Now, most schools in this situation would do one of two things. They would either wait for the grant of rights to run out, as most of the Pac 12 did, or they would just buy their way out much like Texas and Oklahoma, who payed $50 million a piece to leave the Big 12 for the SEC. However, these are not viable options for FSU as the ACC grant of rights does not run out until 2036 and and the Noles team has estimated that the cost to leave would be around $570 million. According to a breakdown of the payment by ESPN, Florida State would "forfeit" $429 million in media rights. It would cost FSU another $13 million in unreimbursed broadcast fees and the ACC exit fee would run the Noles another $130 million. Keep in mind that the ACC's exit fee is three times their operating budget.

All of this amounts to Florida State either waiting 12 seasons for the grant of rights to run out or paying close to $600 million. Hence the Noles going with option number three, a lawsuit.

With this lawsuit, Florida State is attempting to find a legal hole in the grant of rights to avoid spending more time in the downtrodden conference or paying exorbitant fees. FSU is challenging the ACC grant of rights by listing a bevy of complaints against the ACC in their lawsuit, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, a fundamental failure of contractual purpose and violation of public policy. FSU has also alleged that the ACC grant of rights violates Florida Statute 542.18, which states that "every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce in this state (Florida) is unlawful." Florida State has also alleged that the ACC's penalty is unenforceable and have gone as far as to accuse the ACC of mismanagement and incompetence.

Now, many have given FSU little to no shot of winning this court battle, though their odds have improved recently. On Wednesday, December 27, it was reported that judge John C. Cooper, a judge for the Second Judicial Court of Florida and Florida State alum, was assigned to the case. Cooper received his Bachelors Degree from FSU in 1972 and, in 1974, got his Juris Doctor from FSU.

Again, the lawsuit is merely the first step in what could be a lengthy process. Florida State did state that being snubbed from the College Football Playoffs was not the only reason, but the final straw in a frustration with the conference that has been building for quite a while. Florida State trustee Justin Roth asked during a board meeting in August that they form a plan to be out of the ACC by August of 2024. It's safe to say that there is no hope that FSU will remain in the ACC and that they will do all they can to get out as quickly as possible.