FSU's legal fight with the ACC hit $4.95 million

The 15-month legal battle between Florida State and the ACC paid off for the school in the long haul but was costly as the billable hours added up.

FSU spent $4.591 million in legal costs from December 2023 through February 2025, which represents the filing of the initial lawsuit in Tallahassee as well as another in Charlotte, N.C. The legal fees were released to the Osceola and other news outlets on Wednesday as part of an open records request.

Judge John Cooper had long pushed the legal counsels for both teams to mediate in an effort to cut down on attorneys' fees. Initially, it didn't seem like stakeholders from FSU, Clemson or the ACC were able to reach an agreement despite mediation.

The case was settled on March 3 as FSU's Board of Trustees, Clemson's BOT as well as the presidents and chancellors of ACC schools approved the agreement. Now, a month later, FSU has disclosed the costs associated with the case.

But those costs are likely well worth it as FSU now knows what it will cost in the future to exit the ACC, if the school chooses to do so.

Sources confirmed to the Osceola in March that it'll cost $165 million for a school to leave the ACC with full media rights intact during the 2026 fiscal year, with that number scaling down by $18 million per year until it settles at $75 million in 2030-31.

The college athletics landscape has shifted dramatically through the years, with realignment and the crumbling of the Pac-12 leaving four power conferences in football. And future TV deals will be negotiated, with the Big Ten's deal up in the summer of 2030.

FSU officials haven't spoken much on the settlement beyond the comments from the BOT meeting. But FSU president Richard McCullough was among those to praise the lawyers for their work.

"I so appreciate all the hard work that got put into this..." McCullough said. "(FSU's legal team) did everything right and really helped us to break down some of the iron-clad nature of some of this and helped us get leverage, which was helpful not only for Florida State but for the entire ACC league."