Florida AG calls for release of 'ESPN Agreement' as FSU fights to leave ACC

Related Video: FSU left out of College Football Playoff final four TAMPA (WFLA) — On Thursday, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced she filed several public records requests for documents she says are crucial to Florida State University’s (FSU) legal battle to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

Moody is asking the ACC turn over the conference’s “ESPN Agreement,” as well as the 2014 Amended Multi Media Agreement, the ACC Grant of Rights Agreement, and any other agreements between the conference and the Walt Disney Company (which owns ESPN). In December, FSU was left out of the College Football Playoff by the selection committee, which argued that the Seminoles were a “different team” after star quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a severe leg injury, ending his season.

Since then, multiple state officials have moved to take legal action on the school’s behalf. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis set aside $1 million of the state’s annual budget to allow the university to pursue litigation over the controversial snub, while Moody announced an investigation into the omission.

The selection committee may have been proven right after No. 6 Georgia routed Florida State in the Orange Bowl 63 3 , but the wheels for the legal battle were already in motion. Before the Orange Bowl, Florida State sued the ACC , challenging an agreement that ties the school to the conference with more than half a billion dollars in fees for an early exit.

FSU President Richard McCullough said the playoff snub did not prompt the lawsuit, and that the move was done after “a lot of due diligence.” However, at the beginning of the lawsuit, the university claimed the “stunning exclusion of the ACC’s undefeated football champion from the 2023 2024 College Football Playoff in deference to two one loss teams from two competing Power Four conferences crystalized the years of failures by the ACC to fulfill its most fundamental commitments to FLORIDA STATE and its members.” Now, Moody is throwing her weight behind the schools efforts to leave.

According to Moody, the fees that would be levied against FSU for exiting the ACC early would total around $572 million and consist of forfeited media rights, unreimbursed broadcast fees and an “astronomical” conference exit fee. The ACC has filed a motion aimed at keeping the “ESPN Agreement” sealed , saying the terms and conditions of the deal cannot be disclosed to the public because they constitute a trade secret, which is protected under the state’s Trade Secrets Protection Act.

The ACC has reportedly told FSU that officials with the school can travel to North Carolina and view the documents in secret and under ACC supervision. In a statement Thursday, Moody demanded the records be released no later than 10 days after the request is received..