The Florida State board of trustees on Friday cleared the way for a lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference, challenging a contract that binds the school to the league for the next 12 years and creating a potential path to leave without paying more than $500 million in penalties.
“I believe this board has been left no choice but to challenge the legitimacy of the ACC grant of rights and its severe withdrawal penalties,” Florida State Board of Trustees chairman Peter Collins said during a trustees meeting.
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Florida State outside counsel David Ashburn said a lawsuit was ready to be filed that claims the ACC's grant of rights violates antitrust law and has unenforceable withdrawal penalties. Ashburn said it would coast a school $572 million to withdraw from the conference. The lawsuit also accuses the ACC of breach of contract and violation of public policy.
Florida State is looking for a way out of the conference it has been a member of since 1992 because it believes the ACC is locked into an undervalued and unusually lengthy media rights deal with ESPN that runs through 2036. The school leaders also say the league refuses to change its revenue distribution model to match FSU's value.
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Florida State leaders have been pushing for unequal distribution of revenue for more than a year.
“It’s time for us to try to do something about it,” Florida State President Richard McCullough said.
McCullough said the trustees' approval of the legal challenge was not a direct reaction to Florida State recently being left out of the College Football Playoff, despite having an undefeated record.
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"This is not a reaction, but something we’ve done a lot of due diligence on,” he said.
The ACC has agreed to create a bonus system that would direct more revenue to schools that have postseason success in football and basketball. It did not immediately comment on Friday's decision.
