College football realignment: ACC fires back at Florida State

Florida State and the ACC are going back and forth in court as the school tries to find a way out of the conference

The next small step in the ongoing college football realignment process has come as the ACC has filed a motion to dismiss or stay Florida State's lawsuit against the conference, according to multiple reports.

That decision comes about a week after Florida State filed its motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought ahead by the ACC in which the conference accused the school of breaching its contract with the league.

College Football HQ Explains: Florida State vs. the ACC

Florida State's board of trustees voted unanimously at the end of last year to file a lawsuit against the ACC to challenge its grant of rights agreement, and in particular the nine-figure payment it would have to make to leave the conference.

FSU's suit, brought in Tallahassee, accused the ACC of breaching its contract for failing to create media rights value and violated the state's antitrust laws.

The school also claimed that the total penalty, calculated at over a half-billion dollars all told, was unenforceable.

The ACC's grant of rights agreement keeps schools in the conference through 2036. The league's media rights agreement with ESPN runs through 2027 with a right to exercise a nine-year option through '36. 

Florida State alleges that ESPN gave the ACC an ultimatum during their 2016 negotiations that no further talks would happen until after the existing agreement expires.

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