Who Wins? The Challenges and Potential Impacts of State Courts’ Holdings in FSU v. ACC, in Florida, and ACC v. FSU, in North Carolina

Authors

• Ethan Nickolaus Anagnos, University of Miami School of Law

Document Type

Notes and Comments

Abstract

Over the years, grant of rights (GOR) agreements have continually been the foundation for the transfer of exclusive rights between parties. In the ultra-competitive arena of the college football industry, these agreements have played an instrumental role in preserving and financing conferences and universities. Despite the prevalence of these GOR agreements, no university nor conference had ever attempted to challenge their validity before a court. That was until December 2023, when Florida State University (FSU) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) entered into a grueling and highly debated legal dispute regarding their GOR agreement, which is supposed to continue until 2036. With millions of dollars at stake, both parties had their eyes set on obtaining a favorable ruling. Therefore, both FSU and the ACC initiated proceedings in their respective home states leading to parallel litigation.

These parallel proceedings were not only extremely costly to the parties but also resulted in inconsistent court holdings. As the first instance of a university challenging its GOR, these conflicting decisions only added to the uncertainty surrounding the final outcome. This Note will emphasize the importance of uniform holdings in the parallel litigation involving FSU and the ACC for the college football industry and other industries that rely on GOR agreements. Additionally, this Note addresses preemptive solutions that parties can implement to avoid parallel GOR litigation.

Recommended Citation

Ethan Nickolaus Anagnos, Who Wins? The Challenges and Potential Impacts of State Courts’ Holdings in FSU v. ACC, in Florida, and ACC v. FSU, in North Carolina, 34 U. MIA Bus. L. Rev. 453 (2026).