We now have a proposal to reconfigure the ACC’s finances, a proposal that would also end all lawsuits. As such, we figured it was appropriate to review the ACC legal carousel and give a quick snapshot of each case’s current status.
ACC v. Florida State; Mecklenburg Country, North Carolina
This one sits in abeyance awaiting the state supreme court. The ACC is suing FSU for breach of contract. They filed it in an anticipatory fashion, days before FSU even voted to try to get out of its ACC contract. First to file is often a significant legal principle in determining the appropriate venue and jurisdiction.
Florida State filed the standard motion to dismiss, claiming sovereign immunity as a public university and state entity. Judge Louis Bledsoe III denied the motion. FSU is appealing to the North Carolina State Supreme Court. Because the trial is held in the complex contract part of the civil trials division, FSU gets to skip the other appeals levels and go straight to the state supreme court.
It is expected to be heard in the early Spring. FSU legal counsel has told us that they intend to appeal to the United States Supreme Court if they are not victorious there. And that is still over the motion to dismiss, meaning we are still one-to-two years away from any sense of a trial. If and when that time comes, it will be with a different judge, as Judge Bledsoe is retiring in January 2025.
ACC v. Clemson; Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
The overall legal theme is the same as the FSU case above. Some certain elements are different. The ACC did not jump the line to file this suit. Clemson filed first in Pickens, South Carolina. Judge Bledsoe also denied Clemson’s motion to dismiss. The school intends to appeal to the NC State Supreme Court.
An important element in both the cases above is that both FSU and Clemson filed for a motion to stay the case, pending the appeals, and Judge Bledsoe granted the motions in both cases. That means every procedural element that has to do with either case comes to a halt until the jurisdictional issues are resolved at the appellate level.
Clemson v. ACC; Pickens County, South Carolina
This is where Clemson is the plaintiff trying to get out of the Grant of Rights and be free to leave the ACC before the GoR expires in 2036. There is a difference between this and the Florida State complaint.
FSU is trying to have the GoR set on fire in the contractual dumpster heap of history. Clemson, in its filings, acknowledges the validity of parts of the contract. It asks the court to rule on very narrow, very specific elements of the contract. Primarily it wants the court to look at the issue of the ACC still holding on to the home broadcast rights for the school after the school is no longer a member.
Judge Perry Gravely denied the ACC’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The conference is appealing to the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Judge Gravely issued a stay in the case, to put a stop to everything, pending the appeal.
Florida State v. ACC; Leon County, Florida
This is the one that can start to move some chess pieces. Despite the multiple appeals, it is a fluid case ongoing at the trial level. It also creates a ticking clock in the ears of all involved in the proposed settlement for the entire conference that was revealed this week.
FSU wants out of all commitments to the ACC, the sooner the better. They even are asking the court to rule that the established $140 million exit fee is not valid. And they want out of the Grant of Rights while still owning their broadcast rights.
Whereas the hearings for the motion(s) to dismiss took one day in the other courts, Judge John Cooper needed three hearings to get through the basic ACC motion to dismiss. He tends to go on tangents of his own creation which prolongs the hearings.
But, unlike the other judges, not only did he deny the motion to dismiss, but he also denied the motion to stay. That means the discovery and other trial work goes on, while the ACC tends to its appeals.
The ACC had to file an appeal based on the ruling to deny the motion to stay. That got heard last week by a three-judge panel in the Florida First District Court of Appeal. It is expected that we will not get a ruling from there for at least a few months. The ACC has also filed its appeal on the motion to dismiss.
The Hook
In the interim, Florida State has filed a motion for partial summary judgment. They are asking Judge Cooper to rule that based on what has been presented thus far FSU has a reasonable chance of success at trial and thus the case can be ruled on now. In general, this would never pass. But the scope of the motion is very narrow. FSU is making it about the GoR stating that the conference owns the broadcast rights while the school is a member of the ACC. But, as FSU contends, there is nothing that says they own those rights after a school leaves the conference.
With Judge Cooper being somewhat of a wild card thus far, he could rule on this before the end of the month. Whichever side loses that motion will certainly appeal. But, if FSU wins, it certainly puts a new light on the ACC and the opportunity to restructure the conference finances and keep everyone in line for a few more years.
