- Florida State has agreed to settle its lawsuit with the Atlantic Coast Conference, ending a 14-month legal battle that began in 2023.
- The agreement restructures the league's revenue-sharing model to base it on TV viewership for the revenue sports — football and men's basketball.
- Watch now to hear FSU trustees describe why this deal is exactly what they wanted.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
One year and a couple of months after picking a fight with the ACC, Florida State leaders say they got the win.
"It's a good outcome for Florida State. We wouldn't be here today approving this if it weren't a good outcome for Florida State."
I'm Alberto Camargo, your College Town neighborhood reporter.
Breaking down the details of what FSU agreed to with the Atlantic Coast Conference.
I've been on top of this since it kicked off just before Christmas 2023. 14 months later, the legal battle is over.
FSU Board of Trustees Chair Peter Collins says settlement talks had been ongoing for months.
Tuesday, FSU and the ACC each approved to settle out of court, drop all lawsuits, and find a solution.
That solution is a revenue-sharing model that factors in TV viewership the big money sports — football and men's basketball.
The ratings-based distribution will make up 60% of the media rights deal.
It's a deal that trustee and former Seminoles quarterback Drew Weatherford says the new deal will prop up everyone.
"We made some commitments 14 months ago that we would do everything in our power to ensure that we could compete at the highest level. I think we've done that here."
The new agreement also makes it easier to leave the ACC if any school decides to make that move.
The old exit fee would have cost FSU close to $500 million — now the fee goes down every year until the current media rights deal expires in 2036.
Board chair Peter Collins says the new deal satisfies every issue the university wanted to resolve.
"We're way better off than where we were 14 months ago, when we were being told we had no options."
The ACC seems to think so as well, settling with both Florida State and Clemson University, which had filed its own lawsuit against the conference about one year ago.
In a statement, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said, "This new structure demonstrates the ACC embracing innovation and further incentivizing our membership based on competition and viewership results. The settlements, coupled with the ACC's continued partnership with ESPN, allow us to focus on our collective future - including Clemson and Florida State - united in an 18-member conference demonstrating the best in intercollegiate athletics."
The agreement between FSU, Clemson, the ACC, and all its other members will go into effect for the upcoming school year.
In College Town, Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The Florida State University Board of Trustees unanimously approved a legal settlement with the Atlantic Coast Conference Tuesday.
This ends a 15-month legal battle between FSU and the ACC which hinged on a media rights deal that the university felt was unfair.
The agreement restructures the revenue sharing model of the ACC. The new deal factors in viewership numbers when deciding how much revenue each school in the ACC receives.
Under the new agreement, 60% of "Base Media Rights" would be "placed into a Viewership Pool to be distributed via a ratings-based model".
The new agreement also restructures how schools can withdraw from the ACC. Previously, the exit fee was of three times the yearly operating cost of the ACC with media rights disputed.
The new agreement says "upon notice and payment of withdrawal fee, schools exit with media rights unencumbered". It also says the withdrawal fee reduces over time. FSU is currently in a media rights agreement with the ACC until 2036.
The agreement will go into effect for the upcoming school year.
University trustees said the ACC had already approved the settlement on Tuesday morning, and Clemson University also approved the settlement in its own Board of Trustees meeting. Clemson entered the legal battle in March 2024.
Florida State and the ACC had previously sued each other in separate jurisdictions: FSU in Leon County and the ACC in Mecklenberg County, North Carolina.
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