Florida State University President Richard McCullough Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

FSU makes major move in ongoing ACC battle

Originally posted on Florida State Seminoles on SI
By Jackson Bakich | Last updated Jun 4, 2025 7:30 AM ET

In March, Florida State University, Clemson University, and the Atlantic Coast Conference announced they would settle their lawsuits.

The settlement brought clarity to the two schools as they found out they would retain their media rights with a single collective exit fee.

Now, according to Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times, all three parties have "officially, formally, finally" ended their lawsuits and will pay their own legal representatives' legal fees.

Florida State's Board of Trustees unanimously voted to end the settlement in early March.

Alongside the flat exit fee, the agreement will include a revenue-sharing system that will favor teams that bring more viewership (brand initiative) and more individual success initiatives.

The agreement also provides a more defined penalty for institutions looking to leave the conference (including the exit fee and breaking the grant of rights contract).

The "brand initiative" will reward teams financially for greater viewership numbers.

Leaders in viewership in the ACC could bring upwards of $15 million, while the "success initiatives" could "close the gap" with the SEC and Big Ten schools that Florida State and Clemson have longed for.

FSU President Richard McCullough made the following remarks in March during the final meeting in which the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to end the litigation:

"I so appreciate all the hard work that got put into this, it couldn't of happened without Chair [Peter] Collins. He's been a great partner, part of the team, and helped in so many ways. [Chief Legal Officer] Carolyn [Egan], amazing job. She did a lot of the heavy lifting and interfacing ... It was a great process, and I'm so proud of how we were able to manage through all that, and I just appreciate our attorneys were phenomenal," President McCullough said.

The FSU President also thanked his partners for breaking down the "ironclad nature" of the legal process, but it was clearly a nod to the ACC's insistence that the grant of rights contract fees was unamendable.

"[The settlement] was not only helpful for Florida State but for the entire ACC league."