© Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat
FSU BOT Issues Response To ACC Before Leon County Showdown
The first legal hearing in Leon County between the two parties will take place on April 9.
On Wednesday, Florida State’s Board of Trustees issued a legal response to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s motion to stay filing in the legal battle between the two parties, specifically regarding the case in Leon County, Florida.
The ACC argues this case should be held in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina as that is where the Conference is headquartered. Moreover, the Conference believes the media rights of all schools in the ACC (including Florida State) are affected by this lawsuit, giving credence as to why the case should not be held in Florida.
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Florida State’s response rejects that hypothesis.
In the opening paragraph of the background, the university states one of its main goals is to “get to the truth.”
“Five words explain why the Motion should be denied: to get to the truth. The sound and fury in three different state courts (Florida, and the Carolinas, South and North) are largely over lengthy contracts no one (including the Courts) has other than the ACC. The ACC asks these Courts to construe the ‘terms and conditions’ of those ESPN Agreements yet expects those Courts to take the ACC's word for those terms. That never ends well,” the Board of Trustees claimed.
Furthermore, FSU believes – at least in their lawsuit filed in Leon County, Florida – that their media rights for home games are the ones in question, making this case under the jurisdiction of the Sunshine State.
Moreover, Florida State argues that the ACC’s “race to the courthouse,” violates its own rules of requiring a vote from Conference members before taking legal action such as this.
“According to the ACC, conducting a clandestine one-person race to the North Carolina courthouse somehow legitimizes it all,” the University stated.
Finally, FSU notes that the ACC’s “game of hide-the-ball” (regarding the secretive Grant of Rights the Conference refuses to make public) “must end.”
The first legal hearing in Leon County regarding this case will occur on April 9.
Stick with NoleGameday for more coverage of Florida State football throughout the spring.
