Florida State Suing ACC Over Grant of Rights, Withdrawal Fee
According to a report from ESPN’s Andrea Adelson, the Florida State Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Friday to file a lawsuit against the ACC, challenging the legality of its Grant of Rights and the $130 million withdrawal fee that comes with breaking it.
This suit is a necessary first step in the Seminoles’ hopes of creating a better financial future for themselves, which could ultimately lead to an exit from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“I believe this board has been left no choice but to challenge the legitimacy of the ACC grant of rights and its severe withdrawal penalties,” FSU board chairman Peter Collins said. “None of us like being in this position. However, I believe that we have exhausted all possible remedies within the conference and we must do what we believe is best for Florida State not only in the short term, but in the long term.”
According to Adelson, Florida State is alleging that the ACC Grant of Rights and withdrawal fee violate Florida statutes in “restraint of trade and alleges breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty with respect to the mismanagement of the ACC’s longstanding multimedia rights deal with ESPN.”
This is a first in college athletics as no school has ever challenged a conference’s grant of rights in a court of law.
The ACC Grant of Rights has been described as “Ironclad” in the past, and was drafted from a very similar document that held the Big 12 together through previous waves of conference realignment. The language used in the document is very rigid, and leaves little to interpretation, making it nearly impossible for schools to leave, or so everyone thinks. Since no GOR has ever been legally challenged, there’s no way of knowing just how “ironclad” it is. Now, we’ll get a firsthand look at it, and the outcome could be a monumental step toward the NCAA and its conferences becoming a thing of the past.
“This is not where I would prefer to have ended up,” university president Richard McCullough said. “I would prefer a different pathway, but I feel in many ways we’ve exhausted all other options and you can’t wish and hope that somehow they’ll get fixed.”
The ACC’s television deal, which runs through 2036, is arguably the worst contract in college athletics thanks to its incredible length. Florida State is one of many schools hoping they can get out from under it, and under the leadership that’s led them to this point.
“Our actions today are less about the events of the last two weeks and far more about the actions of the ACC leadership over the past 10 years and what confronts FSU in the ACC over the next 13 years,” Collins said.
If Florida State were to try and leave the ACC today, it would cost the Seminoles an estimated $572 million, with exit fee and forfeiture of television revenue adding up to the “elephant-in-the-room” number.
This will be something that everyone following college football will want to stay up to date on in the coming weeks and months, as it could be a major domino for the future of the sport.
