Three months after Florida State filed a lawsuit in open court against the ACC in state court in Tallahassee, Fla. comes news that Clemson has filed its own suit against the league in state court in Pickens County, S.C.
Both Clemson and Florida State’s lawsuits challenge the ACC’s grant of rights agreement, which binds current conference members and broadcast partner ESPN to the league through 2036.
It schools want to break the grant of rights agreements, the ACC contends those schools must pay an exorbitant exit fee of roughly $140 million.
According to Clemson’s suit:
“Clemson makes this motion on the grounds that the Complaint refers to and describes portions of agreements between the ACC on the one hand, and ESPN, Inc. and ESPN Enterprises, Inc. (together, “ESPN”) on the other hand—specifically, the Amended Multimedia Agreement and the Network Agreement (together, the “ESPN Agreements”)—and that the parties to these agreements maintain that the terms thereof are confidential and constitute trade secrets.”
Veteran college football reporter Ross Dellenger reported in 2023 that Clemson and Florida State were two of seven ACC schools that met to discuss a possible exit strategy from the league. Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech were the other five schools that met to explore ways to challenge the legality of the ACC’s grant of rights document.
In Tuesday’s court filing, Clemson claims that it “cannot protect and advance its interests, or the interests of its student-athletes, in current and ongoing negotiations within the Conference, with the Conference’s existing media partner ESPN, and in collegiate athletics more generally.”
Per the suit:
“The ACC’s actions interfere with Clemson’s free exercise of its rights and are fatally detrimental to Clemson’s efforts to ensure that its athletic programs can continue to compete at the highest level, which is critically important to Clemson even beyond athletics.” Clemson has been a charter member of the ACC since the league’s creation in 1953.
Clemson has been a charter member of the ACC since the league was founded in 1953.
You can read the school’s full lawsuit here.