Florida AG requests documents from ACC related to FSU’s lawsuit

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has sent a letter to the ACC requesting multiple documents related to Florida State’s lawsuit against the conference, including the grant of rights agreement.

In a statement Thursday, Moody said she requested, among other items: An executed copy of the multimedia Agreement between the ACC and ESPN; an executed copy of the 2014 Amended multimedia Agreement; an executed copy of the ACC grant of rights agreement; any other executed agreements with ESPN; and any other executed agreements between the ACC and the Walt Disney Company.

“One of Florida’s top universities is facing the possibility of forfeiting more than half a billion dollars, and the ACC is refusing to hand over the agreements at the center of this astronomical financial penalty,” Moody said in a statement. “They are unlawfully keeping these documents locked away in North Carolina. However, North Carolina and Florida state laws are clear that these agreements are public records and must be handed over immediately. Today, I am taking action to ensure FSU and the public are able to review these agreements.”

Florida State and the ACC launched lawsuits against each other two weeks ago over the grant of rights, which ties member schools to the ACC through 2036.

The ACC houses the grant of rights at the league office in Charlotte, where schools must go to read the document.