ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips takes strong stance vs. FSU lawsuit 'We will fight for the ACC"

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ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips takes strong stance vs. FSU lawsuit 'We will fight for the ACC"

Liam Rooney, Tallahassee Democrat · Tallahassee Democrat

Tue, Jul 23, 2024 ·

6 min read

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Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Jim Phillips is ready to fight as long as it takes against both Florida State and Clemson's lawsuits .

Phillips did not shy away from the current lawsuits against the conference during his Monday press conference at the ACC Kickoff at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown in Charlotte, North Carolina, providing a strong response to questions about the litigation.

"We will fight to protect the ACC and our members for as long as it takes," Phillips said.

"We are confident in this league and that it will remain a premier conference in college athletics for the long-term future.

These disputes continue to be extremely damaging, disruptive and incredibly harmful to the league as well as overshadowing our student-athletes and the incredible success taking place on the field and within the conference."

Despite tense legal battles that have evolved into multi-state affairs , Phillips said his working relationship with the schools hasn't changed and he holds both FSU and Clemson's leadership structures in high regard.

"I think very highly of Richard McCullough [FSU President], I think very highly of Jim Clements [Clemson President], I'd say we are friends," Phillips said at ACC Kickoff.

"I think very highly of Michael Alford [FSU AD], I think very highly of Graham Neff [Clemson AD]. It hasn't changed my working relationship with them at all because of how I've tried to address it and how I've asked the staff to address it."

"We'll do what we have to do, just like they're going to do what they have to do."

His comments came in response to questions about the impact of the FSU and Clemson legal battles against the ACC, with the schools suing over media rights .

Before Phillips spoke at the media event, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that both FSU and Clemson are unlikely to announce a departure from the ACC before the Aug. 15 deadline, which allows the schools to go to another conference for the 2025-26 season.

Phillips said once the lawsuits happened, he told his staff to not change how they work with both FSU and Clemson , saying no school will be treated differently despite legal proceedings.

"You either believe in what was signed or you don't" Phillips gives strong response to litigation

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips speaks to the media at the 2024 ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, July 22, 2024. (Photo by Nell Redmond/ACC)

Phillips said the league needs to take legal matters seriously and that the conference, which has been around since 1953, will continue to exist and fight for its student-athletes and member schools .

While the current litigation currently takes up a daily portion of his schedule, Phillips said he continues to lead the same way, and he hasn't changed his position since the start of legal proceedings.

"Forceful moments deserve forceful support and leadership," Phillips said. "I don't know that I've changed at all other than I stand by everything said from the first interview I did around the Orange Bowl."

With the ACC's Grant of Rights and other media agreements becoming some of the most talked about documents in the country, Phillips gave a strong response to the ever-present discussion surrounding the FSU and Clemson lawsuits over media rights.

"This is a really important time for the conference," Phillips said. "You either believe in what was signed or you don't. So we are going to do everything we can to protect and fight for the league."

"We now have 12,200 student-athletes and this has been a league that started way before me 71 years ago, and it will be a league a long time after I depart. This league deserves us to take this really serious issue and to handle it appropriately."

FSU, Clemson lawsuits a "disruption" to the ACC, but won't stop the conference from providing "best experience" for schools

Phillips said that the lawsuits have been a "disruption" to the conference , but he feels the ACC has dealt with the challenges of the litigation well.

The commissioner said he doesn't want current legal matters to impact the student-athletes and staff at FSU and Clemson, or any conference member school.

While the litigation takes place, Phillips said the conference will provide the best experience possible for student-athletes and coaches, saying that the proper legal teams will handle any lawsuit matters.

"We've had six months of disruption and I think we've handled it incredibly well," Phillips said. "It's important for me to lead our group in particular, not only our staff, but more importantly our schools to compartmentalize the legal piece of what's happening and not let it distract us or take us away from what we are all trying to do.

That is to provide a great experience for our student-athletes, teams and coaches to focus back on the fields and area of competition."

When speaking on the ACC's media deal with ESPN , Phillips said that the broadcasting company isn't going anywhere and that the partnership will continue.

Phillips said the ACC distributed a league-record $45 million in revenue sharing to schools in 2022-23, and he expects that number to grow significantly when the 2023/24 revenue sharing is released. He said the conference is one of the top three in the country and that it will continue to look at ways to increase revenue with its media deals and other avenues.

He said revenue doesn't "just happen" and that it takes time to find ways to be innovative and creative.

"There is nothing we aren't considering," Phillips said to ACC Network.

What is the status of FSU's lawsuits vs. the ACC

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. Last week, the Florida AG and the ACC agreed to share redacted versions of the contracts with Florida, becoming public records, and ending the lawsuit.
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."
On June 21, Leon County Circut Judge John C. Cooper denied the ACC's motion to dismiss FSU's lawsuit against the conference in Leon County, allowing the case to continue to move forward in the Florida legal system. On July 11, Cooper signed an interim protective order that both the ACC and FSU agreed on that allows the FSU legal team to view unredacted copies of the ESPN agreements.
On June 28, the ACC's motion to stay its case against FSU in Leon County was denied by a Florida appeals court, allowing for the lawsuit to continue throughout the state legal system.

Liam Rooney covers preps sports for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamroone y

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips vow's to 'fight' FSU, Clemson lawsuits

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