After Legal Battle, Attorney General Moody Secures Secretive Media Contracts the ACC Previously Withheld from FSU

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Release Date
Aug 1, 2024
Contact
Chase Sizemore
Phone
(850) 245-0150

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody this afternoon obtained secretive media contracts previously withheld from Florida State University by the Atlantic Coast Conference. The documents are at the center of FSU’s fight with the ACC over the school’s efforts to determine its rights if it leaves the conference. Through Attorney General Moody’s legal action, the ACC has handed over six redacted media rights contracts and documents.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “In a victory for transparency, the ACC has made documents available that are at the center of FSU’s legal fight with the conference. 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.” 

Attorney General Moody recently took legal action against the ACC for wrongfully withholding public records from review. Under secret media rights contracts located somewhere in its North Carolina headquarters, the ACC made claims it would cost FSU more than half a billion dollars to leave, and previously refused to provide the documents for review—requiring representatives from the public university to travel hundreds of miles to physically access the documents with a chaperone, wasting FSU’s time and costing thousands of dollars of public monies in unnecessary travel expenses. 

Now, in response to Attorney General Moody’s action, the ACC has provided the state of Florida with the following documents redacted and 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 (August 10, 2021).

To view copies of the public records, click here.

The ACC redacted exempt or confidential material in the documents provided to Attorney General Moody’s office. 

The Florida Attorney General’s Office continues to review these redactions and media agreements.

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UPDATE 9/10/24:

The Attorney General's Office secured additional information. Click here to learn more.