In Clemson, South Carolina, a court has directed the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to provide Clemson University with documents regarding its agreements with ESPN. The court order, issued on Friday, requires the ACC to produce unredacted documents related to its television deal with ESPN within seven days. The order includes provisions to protect the confidentiality of the requested documents, preventing their public release.
Additionally, the order prohibits Clemson, a public university, from fulfilling any Freedom of Information Act requests concerning these documents unless the ACC provides written consent or another court with “competent jurisdiction” mandates disclosure.
Clemson’s lawsuit against the ACC, filed in March in South Carolina, argues that the conference’s $140 million exit fee is excessively high and unenforceable. The university also contends that the grant of rights only applies if Clemson remains in the conference, and that if a school leaves the ACC, it retains control over the media rights to its home sporting events.
An amended complaint from Clemson seeks unspecified punitive damages from the ACC for what it alleges to be the league’s “willful and malicious conduct” in claiming it should receive television revenue from Clemson’s games even if the university were part of another conference.
Florida State was the first ACC member to sue the conference in December.
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