Florida State, ACC to continue settlement talks in lawsuit after no agreement in mediation
Florida State University and the Atlantic Coast Conference met for court-ordered mediation last week, with the talks set to continue after the sides couldn't come to an agreement.
In a joint court filing Thursday afternoon to Leon Circuit Judge John C. Cooper, the parties said they met for a mediation session last week. The filing says they'll continue discussions.
It's a necessary step as Cooper told both sides to enter mediation within 120 days in an order signed April 22. The parties did not need to complete mediation talks in that time, just enter discussions, and did so within the deadline given.
The litigation stems from FSU's potential exit from the ACC, with the school suing the conference over media rights deals in order to leave without paying the $140 million exit fee and retain media rights, which are themselves worth millions to the university.
The conference, on the other hand, argues it should retain FSU's media rights should it leave the conference. The school says it would have to pay over $500 million to retain its media rights and leave the conference and says that condition can't be enforced.
What is the status of the other FSU, ACC lawsuits?
In April, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against the conference demanding the media contracts, Grant of Rights and ESPN agreement be revealed in accordance with Florida public records law. The case has since been dropped by Moody as she received and released heavily redacted copies of the ACC-ESPN agreement in August.
In May, FSU filed a nearly 600-page complaint in North Carolina asking for the state's supreme court to review the April decision given by the judge there. The petition asks for a writ of certiorari, a formal request for the court to review a case for error or a violation. The ACC responded to FSU's appeal, saying FSU's appeal "fails on its face" because it doesn't show that the court's decision was “patently arbitrary."
In the ACC's appeal of the rulings made by Cooper, there is currently a Sep. 11 court date scheduled in Florida's 1st District Court of Appeals.
Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com and follow him on X: @__liamrooney.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU, ACC settlement talks to continue after unsuccessful mediation