Published Aug. 14
Months before Florida State and the Atlantic Coast Conference sued each other, FSU trustee Justin Roth wanted the Seminoles to have an “exit plan” ready to execute within 12 months.
That was last August.
And that makes this a good time to check in on the dueling lawsuits between FSU and the ACC (and the related but separate ones between the ACC and Clemson). Here’s a broad look at where the cases stand, why they matter in conference realignment and why Thursday is an important deadline in this ongoing saga:
What are the FSU vs. ACC lawsuits about?
The terms if/when the Seminoles leave the conference. There are two main parts.
The first is the withdrawal fee listed in the ACC’s constitution. It’s about $140 million per school (three times the conference’s operating budget). The ACC wants to enforce that payment. FSU argues the league can’t because the cost is “unconscionable.”
The second is about who owns Florida State’s TV rights after an exit. The ACC contends that FSU gave its rights to the conference through 2036. The Seminoles counter that those rights only apply to home games while they’re ACC members. The value of these contested media rights could reach several hundred million dollars.
The general issues are the same in the Clemson-ACC litigation. Both schools and the ACC have asked a court in their home state to interpret the documents in their favor.
Why might FSU and Clemson want to leave the ACC?
Money. The gap between what they get from the ACC and what their SEC/Big Ten peers get from their conference is significant. Exact figures are murky, but the difference is, conservatively, millions of dollars per year. The schools fear they won’t have the resources necessary to compete with programs like Georgia and Ohio State — especially as schools begin sharing revenue with players as soon as next year.
Have FSU and Clemson said they’re leaving the ACC?
No. The lawsuits are about the terms if they leave. Neither school has withdrawn.
How many ACC lawsuits are there?
Four. In chronological order: The ACC sued FSU in North Carolina in December; FSU sued the ACC the next day in Leon County; Clemson sued the ACC in South Carolina in March; the ACC sued Clemson a day later in North Carolina.
A fifth case in Leon County recently closed. The Florida Attorney General’s Office dismissed its public-records complaint against the ACC after receiving redacted copies of the league’s ESPN contracts.
What has happened with the four ACC lawsuits?
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Explore all your optionsNot much. Each case has cleared the first procedural, jurisdictional hurdle and is proceeding in that side’s home court. Or, to use a tennis analogy, every party has held serve.
FSU has appealed its North Carolina loss to that state’s supreme court. Clemson has said it will do the same. The ACC has suggested those cases could be combined. The league also has appealed its initial defeat in Leon County.
How long will this take?
Months, if not years, unless they settle out of court. Though federal courts are generally faster, none of the parties has tried to move the dispute there. That means the cases are progressing — slowly — through state court systems that aren’t known for speed.
One example: In mid-May, FSU petitioned the North Carolina Supreme Court for a review of a lower order by that state’s business court. There has been no significant update in almost two months, and the case is not yet on the Supreme Court’s calendar. FSU said in a June filing that it expects the appeal “to be complex and lengthy, and to extend beyond the North Carolina courts.” It’s possible the process gets dragged out all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Previous complex realignment lawsuits often took at least 15 months to resolve; one Big East mess involving Miami lasted nearly two years.
Could FSU and the ACC settle their lawsuits?
Yes. Most civil suits eventually end in settlements, including ones related to realignment.
In April, Leon County Judge John C. Cooper ordered FSU and the ACC to complete mediation within 120 days. Though a resolution isn’t mandatory, Cooper said both parties have an “interest in seeing if there’s any way this dispute can be resolved quickly instead over a long period of time.”
But ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said at last month’s football media days that he and his staff “will fight to protect the ACC and our members for as long as it takes.” Maybe it’s public posturing, but that doesn’t sound like the comment of someone ready to budge much.
Why does this matter?
The civic reason is that a nine-figure financial impact is significant to a public entity (FSU), regardless of your rooting interest or where the money comes from.
The sports reason is that these lawsuits will shape the next round of conference realignment. If FSU and Clemson find a (relatively) cheap way out of the ACC, perhaps North Carolina, Miami and others follow. The ACC could get wiped out like the Pac-12, bringing college football closer to an era of two super leagues. Another scenario leads the ACC to rebuild with programs like USF and Memphis.
If FSU and Clemson are stuck, major realignment will likely stall.
What are key upcoming dates?
Thursday is the deadline for schools to tell the ACC they’re leaving for the 2025 football season. We don’t expect an announcement by then.
The next scheduled court date is Sept. 11 with Florida’s First District Court of Appeal. It will hear arguments on the ACC’s attempt to pause FSU’s Leon County suit while the league’s case proceeds in North Carolina. Will the ACC be the first side to break the opponent’s serve?
The final date is February 2025. That, according to FSU’s lawsuit, is when ESPN must decide whether to extend its deal with the ACC for another nine years (until 2036). Before exercising its sole option, ESPN surely would like to know whether the rights to FSU and Clemson games are included.
We all would.
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