Florida State’s discontent with the ACC first bubbled up publicly in a February 2023 board of trustees meeting.
But the legal work began months earlier — and FSU might not have even been the first school to seek outside help as it explored conference realignment options, according to documents obtained by the Tampa Bay Times.
On Oct. 24, 2022, FSU hired Greenberg Traurig LLP to help with “general athletics matters,” according to contracts obtained through public records requests. Fourteen months later, that firm filed FSU’s lawsuit against the conference in Leon County.
The school’s initial point of contact was Barry Richard, who represented George W. Bush in the 2000 election litigation and 2018 gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.
FSU’s contract began a month and a half after North Carolina hired a firm for “advice and counseling if, as and when needed regarding commercial issues involving athletics.”
What, exactly, are those commercial issues? The school said the “nature and content of specific legal advice provided” are privileged, not public. But after the Times requested legal contracts related to UNC’s membership in the ACC, conference realignment and TV rights, the school provided the September 2022 retainer with the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. The firm’s sports work has included TV deals with the PGA Tour, sponsorship and broadcast rights with the LPGA, intellectual property protection and trademark disputes.
The retainer specifically excludes tax advice and did not “contemplate litigation.” North Carolina has not sued the ACC, but the Tar Heels are regarded as one of the most desirable brands in conference realignment — if they choose to participate, that is.
The moves by FSU and North Carolina came not long after a major shakeup in the college sports landscape. In late June 2022, USC and UCLA announced they were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. Two months later, the Big Ten was finalizing a seven-year, $7 billion TV contract that would widen the gap between what its members make and what the ACC gives its schools.
That financial disparity between the Big Ten/SEC and ACC fueled FSU’s unrest and led to the dueling lawsuits playing out in Tallahassee (where FSU sued the league) and North Carolina (where the league sued FSU). On Jan. 1 — a week and a half after those complaints were filed — Florida State added Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP to be the school’s local counsel in North Carolina.
Clemson’s legal documents with three different firms are all more recent; they were all signed March 15 — four days before the Tigers sued the ACC in South Carolina. Their description: representing the school in “litigation regarding athletics media rights and related agreements.”
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The hourly rates for FSU’s outside attorneys range from $550 to $985; the legal fees are being paid with non-appropriated funds, not public money, according to the school.
Clemson’s request to South Carolina’s Office of the Attorney General lists hourly rates from $200-$350, though figures as high as $1,700 are crossed out. The total maximum cost from March 1-June 30: $475,000. That money is coming from the Tigers’ athletics money and donor contributions.
The legal fees at North Carolina are not listed in the retainer, but the firm said it was giving the school a 15% discount off its normal rates.
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