The Saga Continues: A Brief Update on the ACC Litigation

admin April 19, 2024

By Ben Byrd from The Bull City Coordinators Podcast

So, just a quick primer on terms, the term “the ACC litigation” refers to all the pending cases – The ACC’s, FSU’s and Clemson’s. Let’s start with The ACC’s case. There is a hearing on May 2 in North Carolina to address the specifics of FSU’s appeal and what, if anything, the North Carolina court can retain jurisdiction over while the appeal is pending. It wouldn’t surprise me if the North Carolina court retains jurisdiction, allows for discovery and generally moves the case along.

On the Clemson case, it looks like Clemson recently amended its Complaint. Don’t read a lot into that – amendments are pretty common. That said, the amendment could slow down an initial hearing and delay getting any preliminary motions before the court in Pickens County. I haven’t been able to get a copy of the Amended Complaint, so I won’t comment on its merits. That said, I continue with my assessment that The ACC has the better legal position. I also doubt that the Pickens County court would allow the case to proceed. The issues are already being litigated in Florida and North Carolina. Three’s a crowd, folks.

On the FSU case, there is a hearing on April 22 on some remaining motions. I believe there is still a motion to dismiss and some motions related to discovery pending. We’ll see what happens at that hearing.

Regardless, the situation we have now is not ideal. As an attorney, having three separate cases which involve the same issues and same general facts isn’t a good thing. It’s a waste of judicial resources and the parties’ resources.

Finally, keep in mind that ESPN has until February 2025 to decide whether to extend the TV deal beyond its current expiration date of 2027. The option would extend the deal until 2036. I’ve been a little sloppy in my statements talking about 2027 which is when the current deal ends. I should be talking about 2025 and not 2027. FSU and Clemson seem keen on avoiding that extension. I’m wondering, and this is rank speculation, if the tea leaves are that ESPN has already indicated that the deal will be extended and FSU and Clemson want to get out and not be stuck with what they consider a bad deal.

I’m not weighing in on whether it is or isn’t a bad deal. I’ll leave that to the YouTube commenters.

I’ll have more coming after the next slate of hearings.