Court just ordered ACC to hand over Documents to Clemson pertaining ESPN…

The court in South Carolina has mandated that the Atlantic Coast Conference provide Clemson with documents pertaining to its agreements with ESPN, as requested in Clemson’s lawsuit against the conference. The interim confidentiality order, issued on Friday, stipulates that the ACC must deliver unredacted documents regarding its TV deal with ESPN to Clemson within seven days.

Additionally, the order includes measures to prevent the disclosure of these documents to the public.The court in South Carolina has mandated that the Atlantic Coast Conference provide Clemson with documents pertaining to its agreements with ESPN, as requested in Clemson’s lawsuit against the conference.

The interim confidentiality order, issued on Friday, stipulates that the ACC must deliver unredacted documents regarding its TV deal with ESPN to Clemson within seven days. Additionally, the order includes measures to prevent the disclosure of these documents to the public.

In March, Clemson initiated legal action against the ACC in South Carolina, alleging that the conference’s $140 million exit fee is excessively high and legally unenforceable. Clemson contends that the grant of rights provision is applicable only while it remains part of the conference and that if it were to leave, it would retain control over the media rights to its home sporting events.

The court order prohibits Clemson, a public university, from fulfilling any Freedom of Information Act requests without written consent from the ACC or unless compelled to do so by another court with appropriate jurisdiction.

The updated complaint from Clemson, as revealed by the court, now seeks unspecified punitive damages from the ACC for what Clemson deems as the league’s intentional and malicious behavior. This includes the ACC’s claim that it should still receive television revenue from Clemson’s games even if Clemson were to join another conference.

In December, Florida State became the inaugural ACC member to file a lawsuit against the conference.