Florida State Files Lawsuit Against ACC In Fight To Leave Conference, Courtroom Battle Awaits

Get ready for a courtroom battle between Florida State and the ACC, as the Seminoles board of trustees voted to file a lawsuit against the conference on Friday.

In a public meeting that had over 4,000 people watching on social media, members of the FSU BOT laid out their plan to file a lawsuit in Tallahassee circuit court against the ACC. The meeting lasted just under an hour, with members of the board laying out their case for why it's time to leave the conference.

The lawsuit that will be filed today details significant problems with the current contract with ESPN and the ACC. In terms of actually leaving the ACC, Florida State has until August to notify the conference it plans on exiting. This would allow the Seminoles to join a new conference on July 1st of 2025.

Members of the board, including AD Michael Alford made it clear that this is not a relationship issue with the ACC, but a financial problem.

"This isn't a relationship decision at all," Michael Alford noted. "It is a simple math problem, a very clear math problem and it's an extremely difficult institutional decision."

What Are The Key Talking Points In Lawsuit?

Obviously the exit fees and Grant of Rights has been the major sticking point for Florida State over the past number of years. Seminoles legal counsel David Ashburn pointed out that in 2010 there was not an exit fee for members, but it's now going to cost $572 million to leave, which includes the exit fees and grant of rights.

The lawsuit will be attacking the penalties that the ACC has setup to leave the conference, with FSU's attorney mentioning the 'breach of contract', 'antitrust' and 'unenforceable penalty' during his presentation.

One of the bigger allegations to come out of the meeting centered around the current media rights deal with ESPN. Attorney David Ashburn said that the current ACC-ESPN contract does not actually end in 2036, but that it technically ends in 2027 with ESPN having a unilateral right to exercise an option through 2036.

This is completely different than what we've heard in the past concerning the media rights deal, with most assuming this goes through 2036. Florida State said this morning that the nine-year option by ESPN was supposed to be decided in 2021, but ACC commissioner Jim Phillips agreed to an amendment to extend the option window until 2025.

This point was also backed up by the attorney saying that the ACC needed a 2/3 vote by Athletic Directors, but that did not take place. Also, FSU claims that the ACC has failed to create an appropriate value for the media rights deal. The complaint of 'breach of fiduciary duty' is a term used in the lawsuit.

In addition, FSU attorney David Ashburn says that the ACC told its members in 2016 that ESPN approached them and said they would not pursue any further media rights deals with the conference if they did not extend through 2036.

ACC Comments On The Lawsuit, This Will Be A Fight

The ACC released a statement shorty after the meeting on Friday, noting that this decision is a clear violation of their legal commitments to other members.

"Florida State's decision to file action against the conference is in direct conflict with their longstanding obligations and is a clear violation of their legal commitments to the other members of the conference. All ACC members, including Florida State, willingly and knowingly re-signed the current Grant of Rights in 2016, which is wholly enforceable and binding through 2036.

What's Next For The ACC, Florida State?

Florida State attorneys will file its complain in Tallahassee on Friday, but don't expect it to show up in the public system till after Christmas. Following their filing in circuit court, the ACC will accept the lawsuit and respond within thirty days.

This will certainly be a drawn-out process from the conference, as they form a response that lays out their plan for the court room. Yes, there could be a settlement between both parties, but Florida State is looking to get out of this contract without much of a financial penalty.

The filing submitted on Friday says that Florida State needs an answer from the court system as to whether or not it can leave the ACC before further damage is done to the university.

READ THE FULL LAWSUIT HERE

Head coach Mike Norvell of the Florida State Seminoles looks on after a game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 25, 2023 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

In the meantime, this could all lead to a discovery process that should have the ACC open the books at their office in Greensboro, North Carolina. Once this takes place, Florida State will then be able to openly look at the Grant of Rights, without someone watching over their shoulder.

It was noted in the meeting that every time someone from Florida State or any school wanted to see the current rights package, a member of the ACC would stand in the room, watching over the attorneys. You could not take any pictures of the deal of or text, which sounds like this deal is guarded like the Declaration of Independence.

In the longterm, Florida State set the wheels in motion for their ACC exit. There is no turning back from what we witnessed on Friday morning.

Now we wait to see how the ACC responds, but Florida State has made it clear they want out.