Clemson files suit against ACC, issues defense of FSU
Clemson has finally joined the lawsuit party. Florida State has a wingman.
In a legal filing in South Carolina on Tuesday, Clemson asserted that the ACC’s $140 million penalty to leave the league is “exorbitant. And in regards to the schools granting media rights to the ACC, lawyers for the university say it “hinders Clemson’s ability to meaningfully explore its options regarding conference membership, to negotiate alternative revenue-sharing proposals among ACC members, and to obtain full value for its future media rights.”
If the tone of that language sounds familiar, it’s very similar to the foundation of FSU’s legal filings from late December as well as subsequent amendments. Nearly three months have passed, Clemson had remained very quiet, but has jumped in just days before a hearing in the FSU-ACC court case on Friday in a Mecklenberg (N.C.) courthouse.
Clemson’s filing wants the court to rule that the ACC does not own the broadcast rights to the Tigers’ games after leaving the league, that it should not be required to pay an exit fee and owes no other “fiduciary” duties to league.
The filing uses some strong language that suggests Clemson is interested in leaving the ACC but also an olive branch toward revenue sharing, which the league’s presidents and chancellors agreed to success initiatives on May 24 but there has been no further details of what those incentives for football or men's basketball on-field success could deliver to a school.
“The ACC’s erroneous assertions and related actions concerning media rights, the withdrawal penalty, and non-existent fiduciary duties diminish the value of Clemson’s future media rights. They have a chilling effect on Clemson’s ability to explore and pursue an exit from the ACC or to negotiate alternative revenue-sharing proposals among ACC members.”
It should be noted that Clemson claims “the ACC did not hold a vote requesting that its members, including Clemson, approve of the lawsuit against Florida State. Nor has Clemson ever authorized the ACC’s lawsuit against Florida State.”
Clemson’s lawyers also used a number of paragraphs from the yet-to-be-released ESPN agreement (different from the Grant of Rights, which has been made public) in its filing.
In reporting by Clemson’s Rivals site, Larry Williams states “Clemson was able to find a way to conduct its approval process in secrecy before moving forward with the filing.” In Florida, FSU and other public schools must provide 24 hours’ notice of a Board of Trustees meeting.
