Clemson Follows Florida State's Footsteps, Enters Legal Battle with ACC

Two of the three schools that voted against the ACC adding Cal, Stanford and SMU to the conference have filed suit — and the ACC has counter-sued. Now, all eyes are on UNC.

On Dec. 22, Florida State’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to sue the ACC in a pursuit to exit the conference. Now, three months later, Clemson is following in the Seminoles’ footsteps.

Florida St. sued the ACC to challenge its Grant of Rights agreement with ESPN and a projected exit fee of $572 million from the conference. Now, Clemson is suing for similar reasons, including an exit fee of at least $140 million.

“The Withdrawal Penalty has no relationship to, and is in fact plainly disproportionate to, the actual damages, if any, that would flow from Clemson's leaving the ACC,” the school said in its official complaint Tuesday in the Pickens County Court of Common Pleas. 

“While the ACC Constitution refers to this sum as "liquidated damages," it is plainly a penalty and, under the applicable law, penalties are unenforceable”.

Under its current media agreement with ESPN, which runs through 2036, the ACC receives less money than the Big 12, Big Ten and SEC do from their television partners. The ACC will also receive just 17% of College Football Playoff revenue after 2026 while the Big Ten and SEC will receive 29% each, according to The Athletic’s Chris Vannini.

In the lawsuit, Clemson estimates the gap in media rights distribution between the member schools of the ACC and those in the Big Ten and SEC could reach as much as $30 million in the coming years.

As the ACC lags behind the SEC and Big Ten, the league is in danger of losing two of its most prominent football schools. To make matters worse, both Clemson and Florida St. have fierce in-state rivals in the SEC as both schools play South Carolina and Florida, respectively, every Thanksgiving weekend.

Like Florida St., Clemson is looking to keep court proceedings outside of North Carolina, the ACC’s home state. However, like with the Seminoles, the ACC is putting up a fight with a lawsuit of its own in North Carolina — also claiming Clemson can not get out of the Grant of Rights agreement or league exit fee.

“The ACC has recently claimed in court filings that its members owe the Conference fiduciary duties arising from the ACC Constitution, the ACC Bylaws, and statutory and common law, including duties allegedly arising from the characterization of the ACC as a joint venture and from the good faith and fair dealing obligations of parties to a contract,” the Clemson complaint read.

“The ACC has gone even further and sued another conference member for allegedly breaching duties owed to the Conference by challenging the enforceability of the grant of media rights to the Conference. Clemson disagrees and asserts that no such fiduciary duties are imposed by the ACC Constitution, the ACC Bylaws, or any applicable statutory, common, or other law. Moreover, Clemson has not breached any legal duty owed to the ACC by filing this lawsuit— which does not challenge the enforceability of the grant of media rights but merely seeks a declaratory judgment regarding the scope of rights granted.”

Once the 2024-25 athletic season begins, the ACC will be at 18 members as Cal, Stanford and SMU are set to join the league. Under the terms of its media rights agreement with ESPN, the ACC will lose money if the league ever falls below 15 members. 

Clemson and Florida St. voted against the additions of the ACC’s three newest schools and were joined by UNC in their dissenting vote. There has been no legal action taken by UNC so far, but the Tar Heels are arguably the ACC’s best in terms of combined football and men’s basketball success. 

What becomes a big question is UNC’s willingness to leave the ACC and its protected basketball rivalry with Duke, an annual series that occupies the evening time slot on ESPN for two Saturdays every winter. However, basketball rivalries like UCLA-Arizona were abandoned when the Pac-12 broke up, making it a possibility for the sport's greatest feud.

Now, the ACC is at risk of Cal, Stanford and SMU becoming replacements rather than additions.

When Florida St. sued the ACC, the conference filed a countersuit, and commissioner Jim Phillips released a statement on the same day.

"All ACC members, including Florida State, willingly and knowingly re-signed the current Grant of Rights in 2016, which is wholly enforceable and binding through 2036," Phillips said. "Each university has benefited from this agreement, receiving millions of dollars in revenue and neither Florida State nor any other institution, has ever challenged its legitimacy."

Now, it remains to be seen if things play out similarly between the ACC and Clemson.

ALL 52 obtained Clemson’s 28-page lawsuit against the ACC.