The Atlantic Coast Conference filed an amended complaint in North Carolina Superior Court on Tuesday seeking damages from the state of Florida for “serial failures to meet critical legal promises and obligations” and questioned FSU's right to have leadership in ACC positions.
The 55-page filing in Mecklenburg County marks the latest in procedural maneuvering between the ACC and the state of Florida over that school's challenge to the league's grant of rights.
The ACC had initially filed a lawsuit on Dec. 21 to protect the league's grant of rights, which extends through 2036. FSU filed the lawsuit the next day in Leon County, Florida, alleging that the ACC restricted trade and breached the contract and citing years of mismanagement in the league.
It has begun what promises to be a protracted legal battle to prove the legality of ACC's licensing agreement.
Tuesday's ACC filing includes six claims, including FSU's breach of its contract with ACC, breach of confidentiality in the media rights agreement and breach of fiduciary duties and obligations of good faith.
The lawsuit includes a new claim for potentially “substantial” damages for alleged breaches of contract: “The Conference has and recovers damages from the State of Florida for its breach of the ACC Constitution and Bylaws in an amount to be proven in the judgment, but which the Conference believes to be substantial.”
The filing also questions FSU's ability to have school officials in leadership positions in the conference, including FSU President Richard McCullough on the ACC board of directors and the finance committee.
It calls for a “permanent injunction prohibiting the state of Florida from participating in the management of the affairs of the Conference while it has a direct and material conflict of interest” with the conference's goals.
If the entire legal process plays out, it is expected to take years. The next key date is February 16, when both sides agreed to respond to the initial submissions.
The ACC's amended complaint foreshadows the league's legal strategy, reinforcing how FSU was a willing participant in granting media rights it is now trying to legally get rid of. The state of Florida has estimated that it would cost more than $500 million ($572 million) to leave the ACC without some type of legal victory or agreement between the parties.
The ACC made clear in its amended complaint that FSU accepted “hundreds of millions of dollars” as part of ACC media deals over more than a decade. The league is seeking a declaration that the grant is “valid and enforceable” and that FSU “knowingly executed” the grant and was aware of the terms.
“By signing the Grant of Rights and its amendment, the State of Florida promised that its Grant would be 'irrevocable' and 'exclusive' until 2036,” the amended complaint states. “Further, it explicitly agreed that it would not 'take any action, nor permit others subject to its control to take any action… that would affect the validity and enforceability' of the Grant of Rights.”
A Florida State spokesperson told ESPN on Wednesday night that the university was aware of the ACC's filing and had no further comment.
The university's filing in late December to sue the ACC over the franchise was a sign that Florida State is preparing to leave the conference and likely try to eventually join the Big Ten or SEC.
FSU alleged “chronic fiduciary mismanagement and bad faith” in its initial 38-page complaint. It was the culmination of a nearly yearlong brouhaha by FSU officials about intending to leave the ACC, as McCullough said this summer that FSU would consider leaving unless there was a “radical change” in the distribution of ACC income.
