Florida State Dealt Major Blow In Quest To Leave The ACC Thanks To Court Ruling

If the Florida State Seminoles want to leave the ACC anytime soon, it appears they’d better be ready to pay up.

Florida State University had filed a motion to dismiss against the ACC after the conference sued the university to keep it from breaking the grant of rights it had previously signed.

On Thursday, a North Carolina court threw out that motion to dismiss.

But not only did FSU lose the case, it did so in a way that makes any future case against the conference look like an uphill battle.

“At this stage, the Court concludes that the ACC has sufficiently pleaded that the FSU Board approved the execution of both the Grant of Rights and Amended Grant of Rights,” Judge Louis A. Bledsoe III of the MecKlenburg County writes. “The Court further concludes that the ACC has also sufficiently pleaded that, regardless of whether the FSU Board approved the Grant of Rights Agreements, the FSU Board should be estopped from challenging or has waived its right to challenge these agreements by its conduct in accepting the benefits of these agreements for many years without protest.” Accordingly, the Court will deny the FSU Board’s Motion to Dismiss the ACC’s claim for breach of the Grant of Rights and Amended Grant of Rights.”

So, what exactly does that mean?

Well, for one, it means that the Seminoles aren’t allowed to break the Grant of Rights on a technicality. The judge noted that FSU had happily received Grant of Rights payments in recent years.

But Florida State did pick up one win.

The judge ruled that the ACC cannot amend its allegations against FSU. Similarly, he determined that FSU does not owe any fiduciary duty to the conference.

Though the ACC seemed happy with the ruling either way.

Ultimately, it appears that a settlement is on the horizon. But there will be many more court cases before we get to that point.