ACC files countersuit vs

Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior WriterMar 20, 2024, 07:10 PM ET

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• ACC press reporter.
• Signed up with ESPN.com in 2010.
• Graduate of the University of Florida.The ACC countersued Clemson on

Wednesday in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, arguing that the school goes through the grant of rights and withdrawal charge it consented to as a league member, while also seeking financial damages.The move comes one day after Clemson sued the ACC in Pickens County, South Carolina, challenging the grant of rights and$ 140 million withdrawal charge– joining Florida State in taking legal action against the conference in a first step to possibly leave the league.Florida State filed its suit in December in Florida, one day after the ACC preemptively filed its own match in Mecklenburg County, asking a judge to state that the grant of rights”stands and enforceable”and will remain so through June 30, 2036. The first hearing in that case in Mecklenburg County is arranged for Friday.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated In its match versus Clemson, the ACC utilized comparable language to the suit it filed versus Florida

State. The ACC argued that Clemson, like Florida State, signed the grant of rights two different times, in 2013 and 2016, and likewise voted in 2012 to increase the withdrawal charge to”an amount equal to three times the total operating expense of the Conference. “Clemson brought into question the league view that it controls its rights even once it leaves the conference, calling it a” nonsensical reading,”

“incorrect” and”irregular with the plain language of that arrangement.”The ACC is asking a judge to declare the plain language of the grant of rights” means what it says”and is”special and irrevocable”through the term.After the dueling ACC/Florida State suits were submitted in December, the ACC stated in its suit that Clemson indicated a” desire to deal with the conference” concerning its own subscription and” requested privacy and defenses that the ACC would not submit a suit against it.” The ACC stated it agreed to seek a solution without turning to lawsuits. While it was working to document those assurances, the league claims Clemson submitted its suit in Pickens

County, South Carolina.In addition to seeking declaratory judgment on the grant of rights and withdrawal charge, the ACC is looking for damages from Clemson for its breach of the grant of rights, and its breach of its”responsibility of excellent faith and fair dealing.”