Court Orders ACC to Disclose ESPN Deal Details to Clemson

A court in South Carolina has issued an order requiring the Atlantic Coast Conference to hand over information concerning its agreements with ESPN. These records were requested by Clemson in the lawsuit that it filed against the conference.

Friday marked the day that the interim secrecy order was made public. It was stated that the Atlantic Coast Conference has seven days to provide Clemson with records that are not redacted about its television arrangement with ESPN. The injunction also includes protections to prevent the records that have been sought from being made available to the general public.

Unless the ACC grants written authorization or the school is forced to comply with the Freedom of Information Act by another court with “competent jurisdiction,” the order prohibits Clemson University, which is a public university, from dealing with any or all Freedom of Information Act requests.

Clemson launched a lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in March, claiming that the ACC’s exit cost of 140 million dollars is “unconscionably high” and “unenforceable at this time.” Additionally, the school asserts that the grant of rights is only applicable in the case that Clemson is a member of the conference, and that even if a school withdraws from the league, it will continue to have control over the media rights to its home athletic events.

Through an amended complaint that was made public by the court, Clemson sought the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for punitive damages that were not mentioned. The complaint alleged that the ACC had engaged in “willful and malicious conduct” by asserting that it should get television revenue from Tigers games even if they were a part of another conference.

In December, Florida State became the first member of the Atlantic Coast Conference to file a lawsuit against the league.