Leon County judge could order ACC to give Florida State confidential ESPN agreements

In a proposed court order, the Atlantic Coast Conference would have to provide Florida State University's legal team a copy of the highly confidential ESPN agreements as the battle between the conference and the school continues in Leon County.

In proposed language that both sides agreed upon, the court order was drafted and submitted July 2 at 3 p.m. to Leon Circuit Judge John C. Cooper . If Cooper signs the court order, the ACC must hand over an unredacted version of the sought-after ESPN agreement to FSU within seven days of the order.

The ESPN agreements have been at the center of the legal fight between the two parties : FSU sued the ACC over its media rights deal, and this move could be a major blow to be landed in the heavyweight fight between the two.

Previously, the documents could only be viewed at the ACC headquarters in North Carolina under strict security measures to prevent the information from leaking out.

The documents are likely to provide more context to the feud over media rights in this case, and how those rights are affected should FSU leave the conference. One of FSU's primary arguments in the case is that it should retain its media rights if it leaves the conference without having to pay the nearly half-billion-dollar fee to the conference.

The ESPN agreements contain six documents:

• The initial 2010 multi-media agreement with ESPN
• The 2012 amendment and extension agreement
• Second amendment and extension agreement in 2014
• Amended and restated multi-media agreement in 2016
• ACC-ESPN Network agreement also from 2016
• Letter amendment to amend and restated multi-media agreement from 2021

The proposed interim protective order submitted by both the conference and FSU would allow the school's legal team to review the documents and create copies for use in the school's court battle. The order states that the documents remain confidential and only be seen by those involved with the case or authorized consultation.

Once the litigation between the school and the conference ends, FSU will return the documents to the ACC and destroy any copies of it within 60 days in accordance with the order.

This is the first major development in the case following Cooper's denial of the ACC's motion to stay the case in Florida, and if it goes through it can be seen as a win for FSU because the school's legal team has made clear in court on several occasions that it wanted the documents.

With FSU's potential official exit from the ACC looming over this case like a storm cloud during a summer afternoon, this order could spark the school and conferences conversations at the bargaining table as the Aug. 15 deadline to announce a withdrawal from the conference nears.

What is the status of the other FSU vs. ACC lawsuits?

• In April, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against the conference demanding the media contracts, Grant of Rights and ESPN agreement be revealed in accordance with Florida public records law.
• In May, FSU filed a nearly 600-page complaint in North Carolina asking for the state's supreme court to review the April decision given by the judge there. The petition asks for a writ of certiorari, a formal request for the court to review a case for error or a violation. The ACC responded to FSU's appeal , saying FSU's appeal "fails on its face" because it doesn't show that the court's decision was “patently arbitrary."
• On June 13, Moody said she doesn't need a hearing to get the media contracts from the ACC, citing Florida's public record law and saying a judge can make a ruling on her request now. A Leon County judge said there will be a hearing, with a date yet to be given for the hearing.
• On June 28, the ACC's motion to stay its case against FSU in Leon County was denied by a Florida appeals court, allowing for the lawsuit to continue throughout the state legal system.

Liam Rooney covers preps sports for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamroone y

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County judge could order ACC to give Florida State confidential ESPN agreements