Atlantic Coast Conference turns copies of its agreements with ESPN over to Ashley Moody

Ashley Moody doubles down on crusie ships and vaccine passports.

Attorney General Ashley Moody has gotten access to more than 250 pages of documents from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) as a result of Moody’s decision to charge into the ongoing tug of war between the ACC and Florida State University.

The ACC turned over the records on Thursday and the batch includes copies of agreements and amendments to agreements reached between the ACC and ESPN.

FSU and Clemson are both trying to extract themselves from the ACC now that other conferences, such as the Big 10 and the SEC, have inked much more substantial television deals. But this has triggered dueling lawsuits in several states as the sides argue over how much control the ACC has over the schools and how much the universities would owe if they ultimately left the conference.

“In a victory for transparency, the ACC has made documents available that are at the center of FSU’s legal fight with the conference,” said Moody, who is a graduate of FSU’s rival, the University of Florida. “These previously withheld contracts are vitally important to understanding why the ACC wants to impose large fines on a Florida university if it leaves the conference.”

Moody’s office has posted the documents that were released. 

Many parts of the agreements were redacted because the ACC asserted they were trade secrets and therefore exempt from disclosure under Florida law. But Moody’s office said it would “review these redactions,” a suggestion that they could demand more information at a later time.

Some of the information blacked out includes how much ESPN is paying the ACC for media rights. But lots of other information — covering everything from Friday night games, conference territory and how many tickets the conference must give to ESPN — were also redacted.

But it still represents a turnabout for the ACC, which had initially insisted that all of its agreements with ESPN were not public records at all. Those who have been closely following the legal battle between FSU, Clemson and the ACC, and its potential ramifications on conference realignment, appeared eager to dive into what was made available.

FSU first gave the green-light to sue the ACC back in late December, which came a few weeks after the Seminoles were snubbed from the college football playoff despite having a perfect regular season and winning the ACC championship. FSU is the first undefeated Power 5 conference champion to be left out of the playoff or its predecessor in the past 25 years. The snub had Florida politicos decrying the decision.

The ACC filed its own countersuit right as FSU trustees agreed to move ahead with litigation.

Moody asked the ACC to turn over records at the time, but the conference refused her request leading her office to file a public records lawsuit in late April. The case was scheduled to go to a hearing late last month but, days ahead of time, Moody announced the ACC had agreed to turn over the documents.