UPDATE: ACC will provide media rights contracts at center of FSU lawsuit

UPDATE JULY 17:

In a news release issued Wednesday, Florida Attorney General, Ashley Moody, said her team just secured an agreement from the ACC’s attorneys to provide secretive media rights contracts at the center of the legal battle.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Our office’s legal action has resulted in an agreement from the ACC to produce secret media contracts that are at the heart of the legal wrangling between FSU and the ACC. The conference refused to provide media contracts that detail the impact to FSU if it departs the conference, but now they are rightfully handing over these public records. We will continue to fight for transparency.”

According to the news release, the ACC has notified the state of Florida that the following documents will be produced in accordance with the Florida Public Records Act:

• 2010 ACC Multi-Media Agreement;
• 2012 Amendment and Extension Agreement;
• 2014 Second Amendment to Multi-Media Agreement;
• 2016 Amended and Restated ACC-ESPN Multi-Media Agreement;
• ACC-ESPN Network Agreement (2016); and
• Letter Amendment to Amended and Restated Multi-Media Agreement (Aug. 10, 2021).

Under the parties’ agreement, the ACC agreed to produce all the agreements to the Florida Attorney General's Office no later than Aug. 1.
ORIGINAL STORY:

A hearing is scheduled for a case involving Florida's Office of the Attorney General and the Atlantic Coast Conference. In April, Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference for withholding public records from review.

Attorney General Moody first took action in January, requesting the ACC to produce the contracts at the center of FSU’s fight to leave the ACC.

According to court documents, a final hearing will be held in person before the Honorable Angela C. Dempsey. Ninety minutes is set aside for the hearing and time will be divided as follows:

• 30 minutes for plaintiff
• 30 minutes for defendant
• 15 minutes for ESPN, Intervenor

The Court requests that the Amici Conferences attend the hearing and be available if the Court has questions, but the Amici Conferences will not otherwise be permitted to make a presentation.

In response to the attorney general's lawsuit, the ACC wrote in court documents, "the ACC is not subject to personal jurisdiction in the State of Florida, (2) the documents demanded by the Attorney General are not the public records of an agency of the State of Florida, and (3) the documents demanded by the Attorney General are trade secrets under Florida law and are exempt from disclosure."