Florida Attorney General Moody gets ACC’s agreement with ESPN

Attorney General Ashley Moody has access to more than 250 pages of documents from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) due to Moody’s decision to investigate the ongoing tug-of-war between the ACC and Florida State University.

The ACC turned over the records on Thursday, and the batch includes copies of agreements and amendments to agreements reached between the ACC and ESPN. These previously withheld contracts are important to understanding why the ACC wants to impose large fines on a Florida university if it leaves the conference.

FSU and Clemson are trying to extract themselves from the ACC now that other conferences, such as the Big 10 and the SEC, have inked much more substantial television deals. However, this has triggered dueling lawsuits in several states as the sides argue over how much control the ACC has over the schools and how much the universities would owe if they ultimately left the conference.

“In a victory for transparency, the ACC has made documents available at the center of FSU’s legal fight with the conference,” said Moody, a graduate of FSU’s rival, the University of Florida. “These previously withheld contracts are vitally important to understanding why the ACC wants to impose large fines on a Florida university if it leaves the conference.”

Moody’s office has posted the documents that were released. 

Many parts of the agreements were redacted because the ACC asserted they were trade secrets and, therefore, exempt from disclosure under Florida law. But Moody’s office said it would “review these redactions,” suggesting they could demand more information later.

Some information blacked out includes how much ESPN pays the ACC for media rights. However, many other details — covering everything from Friday night games to conference territory and how many tickets the conference must give to ESPN — were also redacted.

However, it still represents a turnabout for the ACC, which had initially insisted that all of its agreements with ESPN were not public records. Those closely following the legal battle between FSU, Clemson and the ACC, and its potential ramifications on conference realignment appeared eager to dive into what was made available.

FSU first gave the green light to sue the ACC in late December, a few weeks after the Seminoles were snubbed from the college football playoff despite having a perfect regular season and winning the ACC championship. FSU is the first undefeated Power 5 conference champion to be left out of the playoff or its predecessor in the past 25 years. The snub had Florida politicos decrying the decision.

The ACC filed its countersuit right as FSU trustees agreed to proceed with litigation.

Moody asked the ACC to turn over records, but the conference refused her request, leading her office to file a public records lawsuit in late April. The case was scheduled to go to a hearing late last month, but days ahead of time, Moody announced that the ACC had agreed to turn over the documents.

Christine Jordan Sexton is a Tallahassee-based healthcare reporter who focuses on healthcare policy and politics. She is also busy with Medicaid, health insurance, workers’ compensation, and business and professional regulation.