What's next for Florida State, Clemson and the ACC? Where 4 lawsuits in 3 states stand

After simmering in the background for months, the dueling lawsuits between Florida State / Clemson and the ACC are approaching a key update involving ESPN.

Though things remain fluid in the complex, multi-state litigation, no resolutions appear imminent.

But its a good time to check in on the ongoing, nine-figure cases that threaten to trigger another round of conference realignment.

Advertisement A quick refresher The crux of the dispute is the answer to this question: Who owns the broadcast rights to Florida State and/or Clemson home games if the Seminoles/Tigers leave the ACC? The schools argue they would.

If theyre correct, then they can bring those TV rights worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a new conference (like the Big Ten or SEC).

That interpretation would make FSU and Clemson attractive to other leagues.

If the ACC is correct, then those rights and revenue stay in the ACC as long as its contracts are in effect, even if the Seminoles and Tigers are playing in another league.

This interpretation would dash the schools value to another conference.

GO DEEPER ACC claims FSU and Clemson are too late in contesting grant of rights A separate issue is the exit fee either school must pay to leave the ACC.

Florida State estimated it at $165 million in a legal filing in the fall.

The lawsuits began in December 2023, and all three sides have asked their home courts for rulings: Florida State sued the ACC in Leon County, Fla., Clemson sued the ACC in Pickens County, S.C., and the ACC sued both schools separately in Mecklenburg County, N.C.

Why this week might be important The ACCs base contract with ESPN gives the network the exclusive, revocable option to extend the deal from July 2027 to June 2036.

The deadline to make that decision? February, according to court filings from Florida State.

Publicly available versions of the ESPN-ACC contracts are heavily redacted to protect what the conference and network contend are trade secrets.

Commissioner Jim Phillips has described the option as a look-in and suggested negotiations could include things like time slots and TV network designations .

Phillips has said repeatedly that the ACC-ESPN partnership isnt going away, and the industry expectation remains that the option will be finalized.

Advertisement After this months College Football Playoff meetings in Atlanta, Phillips said talks were going well, but nothing else to report right now.

A day earlier, Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said the Fighting Irish are having some really interesting conversations with the ACC about football scheduling and that hed like to play ACC opponents like Clemson every year.

Could such an arrangement be part of the look-ins negotiation process? GO DEEPER Why Notre Dame's unique football partnership with the ACC still works Even if the option falls through, the ACC and ESPN still have a second media rights deal for the ACC Network, as The Athletic explained in October .

It runs until June 30, 2036, and could continue to complicate a potential exit by Clemson/Florida State.

Saturday was set to be notable for another reason: It was a scheduled discovery deadline in Clemsons lawsuit against the ACC.

But on Wednesday, both sides asked a Pickens County judge to postpone it until April 1, according to court records.

Attorneys are often spurred by deadlines.

Because the general discovery process involves sharing information one or both sides might not want to become public, these are dates to watch as the process unfolds.

Whats happening in court? The litigation continues to play out in three states (Florida and both Carolinas) as the sides continue to argue about where theyre ultimately going to argue.

The most recent move happened in Florida.

The ACC has asked Floridas Supreme Court to review lower rulings that went against the conference.

Those rulings allowed FSUs suit against the league to proceed in Florida, even though the ACC sued the Seminoles a day earlier in North Carolina.

Contrary to decades of precedent, the decision undermines Florida s role in our federal constitutional order and the stability and predictability of our law in ways that will profoundly destabilize our justice system if not corrected, the ACCs legal team wrote in a document filed this week.

Advertisement The ACCs suits against Clemson and Florida State have both reached North Carolinas Supreme Court.

The schools contend that because they are state entities of South Carolina and Florida, sovereign immunity shields them from being sued outside their borders.

The attorneys general of Florida, South Carolina and 10 other states have weighed in to support the schools arguments .

The legal arm for North Carolinas chamber of commerce has filed a brief supporting the ACCs stance to enforce contracts in the state.

There are no hearings scheduled in South Carolina.

GO DEEPER Why Notre Dame's unique football partnership with the ACC still works Where is this heading? A legal resolution remains months, if not years, away.

Its still unclear whether and for how long the parallel cases will keep unfolding in three states amid multiple ongoing appeals.

Its also possible another court could enter the picture; Florida States legal counsel has indicated it will appeal issues on sovereign immunity to the U.S.

Supreme Court if necessary.

Most civil lawsuits are settled out of court.

The expectation is that these cases will, too.

The timing and details are anyones guess.

Perhaps the ACC-ESPN option generates enough new money to appease the Seminoles and Tigers.

Regardless, theres nothing unusual about this 13-month legal slog.

Litigation involving Big East/ACC conference realignment (teams like Miami , Virginia Tech and Boston College ) took 23 months to resolve.

The Athletic s Brendan Marks contributed to this report.

(Photo: Chris Leduc / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

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