Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R-FL) has sent a public records request to the Atlantic Coast Conference (Florida State University plays in) as the school engages in a legal battle with the collegiate league.
When FSU was left out of the College Football Playoff (CFP) last month, AG Moody sent a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) to the CFP Selection Committee, demanding “all communications” to or from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and ESPN, and all 10 conferences in FBS football, as well as the compensation of Committee members.
There are worries that ESPN (which owns the rights to the programming of the CFP in its entirety – the official rankings release show and all three playoff games) chose Alabama over Florida State because it would result in better ratings.
However, in a separate (but similar) legal matter, Florida State’s Board of Trustees decided to sue the ACC in an attempt to leave the conference by challenging the grant of (media) rights and the $130 million exit fee.
Florida State estimates it would cost $572 million to leave the conference immediately.
With all this information in mind, Moody is calling for the ACC to release the conference’s “ESPN Agreement” as well as other documents. Florida State – and now the State of Florida, represented by Moody – believes that these documents should be public record.
“One of Florida’s top universities is facing the possibility of forfeiting more than half a billion dollars, and the ACC is refusing to hand over the agreements at the center of this astronomical financial penalty,” said AG Moody. “They are unlawfully keeping these documents locked away in North Carolina. However, North Carolina and Florida state laws are clear that these agreements are public records and must be handed over immediately. Today, I am taking action to ensure FSU and the public are able to review these agreements.”
Alongside the ESPN Agreement, Moody’s office has called for a public release of the Multi-Media Agreement between the ACC and ESPN, the 2014 Amended Multi-Media Agreement, the ACC Grant of Rights Agreement, as well as “any other executed agreements between the ACC and the Walt Disney Company.”
This is a developing story.
