CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A judge in North Carolina on Thursday denied Florida State's request to dismiss the Atlantic Coast Conference's lawsuit against the school, which is trying to sue its way out of the league.
A little less than two weeks after a hearing in Mecklenburg County, Judge Louis A. Bledsoe III ruled that the ACC had sufficiently argued it had followed conference procedures in filing suit in December against Florida State and that North Carolina is the appropriate jurisdiction for the case.
A hearing in FSU's lawsuit against the ACC is scheduled for Tuesday in Leon County, Florida.
Florida State is challenging the ACC's exit fees and the validity of a contract called a Grant of Rights that binds league members together through their media rights. The ACC's contract with ESPN runs through 2035-36 school year, a contract that lags way behind the value of those signed by the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference.
Florida State claims it would cost $572 million to exit the conference. The school says its athletics department is in danger of not being able to compete with Big Ten and SEC schools because of the growing revenue gap.
The day before the school's board or trustees approved the filing in a public meeting, the ACC filed its lawsuit in North Carolina against Florida State.
Clemson recently filed a similar lawsuit to Florida State's against the ACC in South Carolina.
The ACC claims that both schools are breaching their contracts with the conference by suing.
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