Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody sent a letter to the ACC requesting multiple documents related to the state of Florida’s lawsuit against the conference, including the rights grant agreement.
In a statement Thursday, Moody said he requested, among other items: an executed copy of the multimedia agreement between ACC and ESPN; an executed copy of the amended 2014 multimedia agreement; an executed copy of ACC’s licensing agreement; any other agreement entered into with ESPN; and any other agreement entered into between the ACC and the Walt Disney Company.
“One of Florida’s top universities faces the possibility of losing more than half a billion dollars, and the ACC refuses to hand over the agreements that are at the heart of this astronomical financial penalty,” Moody said in a statement. “They are illegally keeping these documents under lock and key in North Carolina. However, North Carolina and Florida state laws are clear that these agreements are public records and must be turned over immediately. Today, I am taking steps to ensure that FSU and the public can review these agreements.”
The state of Florida and the ACC filed lawsuits against each other two weeks ago over the grant, which binds member schools to the ACC until 2036.
The ACC hosts the licensing at the league office in Charlotte, where schools must go to read the document.
