Florida State opened a lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference in December, citing “years of mismanagement” of its media rights agreement and “draconian” withdrawal penalties, a suit that was pre-empted by one from the ACC earlier that month. On Tuesday, FSU was joined by the ACC’s other football power—Clemson.
In Clemson’s lawsuit, filed in Pickens County, S.C., the school makes it clear that the lawsuit is focused on the feasibility of finding a new conference home, citing the Grant of Rights agreement that runs through 2036 which would allow the league to own a school’s media rights even after a departure. Clemson cites that price as “an exorbitant $140 million to leave the conference,” later comparing it to the lesser fees of the other Power 4 conferences, via Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.
“Each of these erroneous assertions separately hinders Clemson’s ability to meaningfully explore it options regarding conference membership, to negotiate alternative revenue-sharing proposals among ACC members, and to obtain full value for its future media rights,” the school said in the lawsuit, as shared by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
