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Florida State was undoubtedly hoping to see its case heard in a friendly courtroom when it filed a lawsuit against the ACC, and it would appear the school has gotten exactly that now that a judge has been assigned to the case.
Florida State and its fans have been very vocal about its issues with the media rights deal the university inked with the ACC in 2016, and there were already plenty of rumblings that the school was angling for an exit from the conference well before the Seminoles were excluded from this year’s College Football Playoff.
Earlier this month, FSU’s Board of Trustees gathered for a public hearing where its members ripped into the ACC while announcing their intentions to file a lawsuit against the conference to kick off what promises to be an incredibly lengthy and high-profile legal battle.
The biggest issue at hand is the “grant of rights” that gave the ACC permission to take media partnerships into its own hands. While FSU is understandably frustrated it hasn’t gotten the piece of the pie it feels it rightfully deserves based on the viewership it routinely generates, outside observers seem to think it’s fighting an uphill battle to get out of the seemingly ironclad contract that comes with an absolutely massive exit penalty.
According to Matt Baker of The Tampa Bay Times, the court case that’s officially been dubbed “FSU Board of Trustees vs Atlantic Coast Conference ” has been assigned to a court in Leon County ahead of a trial that will tentatively be presided over by Judge John C. Cooper, who earned his B.A. from Florida State in 1972 and graduated from its College of Law in 1974.
FSU Board of Trustees vs Atlantic Coast Conference
Judge John C. Cooper assigned to the case in Leon County
He’s an FSU alumnus pic.twitter.com/CtMEKIXCWL— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) December 26, 2023
Now, Cooper is obviously tasked with taking an impartial stance in the trial, but you have to imagine FSU is pretty thrilled with that particular development (attorneys for the ACC may attempt to argue he should recuse himself given his association with the school, but that does seem like a bit of a stretch).
With that said, it’s worth noting the ACC has already filed a lawsuit of its own that argues the case should actually be heard in North Carolina, so we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.