Florida State files suit against ACC over exit fee and grant of rights

Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

The Florida State Board of Trustees met Friday morning and voted unanimously to file suit against the Atlantic Coast Conference, challenging the league’s grant of rights and its withdrawal fee, a first step toward the school’s possible departure from the conference. 

The suit is in response to "years of mismanagement that has left its member schools trapped in a deteriorating multi-media rights agreement while preventing them from joining other conferences because of 'draconian' withdrawal penalties," according to the FSU press release. 

Florida State players pose after defeating Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship NCAA college football game Saturday, December 2, 2023, in Charlotte, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

It details how the "ACC’s mishandling of negotiations with ESPN has deprived members of tens of millions in annual revenues and put them behind other Power Four schools in the competition for educational advancement and to appear in elite athletic championships."

DEION SANDERS, COLORADO HAVE TOP TRANSFER CLASS AFTER 4-8 SEASON

Florida State and other members of the ACC signed a grant of rights through 2036, which gives the conference control over the media rights. 

In the 38-page suit, filed in Leon County Circuit Court, FSU challenged the legality of withdrawal penalties of at least $572 million in fees and forfeited revenues, a number that includes a $130 million withdrawal penalty and the forfeiture of media rights through 2036.

"The underperformance by the ACC has ramped up dramatically in just the last few years," FSU Board of Trustees Chairman Peter Collins said in the press release