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Pete Thamel, ESPN
In a significant move that could continue to alter the rapidly changing landscape of college sports, Clemson on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the ACC that foreshadows its departure from the league.
In a filing in the Pickens County, South Carolina, Court of Common Pleas, Clemson challenges both ACC’s vesting and exit fees, calling the withdrawal penalty “unconscionable” and “unenforceable.”
He also calls the ACC’s view that the league’s grant of media rights would allow the league to own Clemson’s media rights after it left the league as a “nonsense,” “incorrect” and “reading.” inconsistent with the plain language of that agreement.”
Clemson seeks a declaration in the lawsuit that the ACC would not own the rights to Clemson games “after Clemson ceases to be a member of the ACC.” Clemson also wants the ACC’s exit fee (three times the ACC’s operating budget, approximately $140 million) to be considered “an unenforceable penalty that violates public policy.” (The total cost of the departure with rights and fee was set at $572 million in the State of Florida’s lawsuit.)
The lawsuit is the second filed against the ACC in recent months, having been filed by the state of Florida in late December. Clemson’s lawsuit is significant because it indicates that the league’s two clear football powers, and only the College Football Playoff participants that play annually, want to leave the league.
The ACC filed a preemptive lawsuit against the state of Florida in Mecklenburg County, and the parties are haggling over the location.
The lawsuit comes the same day the College Football Playoff is expected to announce a deal with ESPN that further amplifies the financial gap between the Big Ten and the SEC and the rest of college sports. Annually, each Big Ten and SEC team is expected to earn more than $21 million under the new CFP agreement, which begins in 2026. ACC teams are expected to earn more than $13 million.
Clemson is making it clear that the current ACC television contract, which lags far behind the upcoming agreement between the SEC and the Big Ten, is shaping up to be an inhibitor to Clemson competing at the highest level. Clemson participated in six College Football Playoffs and won national titles in 2016 and 2018.
“The ACC’s actions interfere with Clemson’s free exercise of its rights and are fatally detrimental to Clemson’s efforts to ensure that its athletic programs can continue to compete at the highest level,” the lawsuit states, “which is vital importance to Clemson even beyond athletics.” “