Florida AG sues ACC for not releasing ESPN agreement

Florida attorney general Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit Thursday against the ACC for "wrongfully withholding public records from review," referencing the ESPN agreement that has been requested but provided to Florida State officials or the AG office.

"Under secret media rights contracts located somewhere in its North Carolina headquarters, the ACC has made claims that could cost Florida State University more than half a billion dollars," the AG office said in a statement. "Attorney General Moody first took action in January, requesting the ACC to produce the contracts at the center of FSU’s fight to leave the ACC, but the ACC unlawfully refused. Now, Attorney General Moody is taking legal action to require disclosure of these public records."

The ESPN agreement was briefly part of a discussion brought up by FSU's legal team on Monday as Judge John Cooper held a hearing in Leon County Circuit Court. One of the lawyers for FSU, Peter Rush referenced the agreement and held it up but said the document was redacted. Rush commented that Cooper hadn't been given a chance to review the ESPN agreement, but discussion in the courtroom moved on to other motions.

On Thursday, Moody filed suit.

“The ACC is asking a state entity — Florida State University — to potentially pay and lose more than a half a billion dollars but is refusing to produce the documents related to that outrageous price tag. We sent a public records request to the ACC in January, but they failed to fully comply. We are taking legal action against the ACC for wrongfully withholding these important public records.”

The AG's office filed a legal action in the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit, arguing "the media rights contracts are public records because they were made or received in connection with the official business of a public state university, or persons acting on their behalf."

On Jan. 4, Moody's office mailed a request to the ACC seeking documentation that included the ESPN agreement. On Jan. 19, the ACC responded and said that as a North Carolina-based non-profit the league is not an agency within Florida and its contracts are not within the public record in the state.

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