CFB insider sheds light on $572 million FSU vs ACC legal battle as countdown for Orange Bowl showdown begins

The Florida State Seminoles want to leave the ACC. This is not surprising considering that the unbeaten Seminoles were infamously denied a spot in the College Football Playoffs for an SEC side who had lost a game.

In the current College Football environment, the news that a program is moving to a different conference is not surprising, considering every week, we hear news that one program is moving to another. This is generally for financial reasons.

But, Florida State wanting to leave the ACC is not solely for money. They are one of the ACC's top programs but believe that the conference is holding them back, both financially and in performance against the stronger conferences, like the SEC.

The ACC does not want them to leave.

All of these have led to Florida State suing the ACC in relation to the “Grants of Rights” agreement.

On this morning's College Gameday before the Seminoles’ Orange Bowl game with the Georgia Bulldogs, ESPN analyst Pete Thamel gave us an update on this somewhat confusing story.

“ The $572 Million Question”

Thamel gave the College Gameday crew an update on this story.

Thamel confirmed that Florida State had sued the ACC, but he also said that the ACC had also sued Florida State.

He would go on to say that the courts, in both Florida and North Carolina, would be the ones to give us the answer to the $572 million question.

This number comes from the $130 million exit fee to leave the ACC, with the rest pertaining to the “Grants of Rights” agreement.

But what is this agreement, and what does it mean for the ACC and Florida State?

The “Grants of Right” Agreement

This whole case stems from the “Grants of Rights: agreement the ACC made all of its programs (including Florida State) sign.

This was put into place in 2013, in response to Maryland leaving the conference for the Big Ten. The crux of the agreement is that instead of the individual programs making broadcast deals, this would all be managed by the ACC. The deal is in place until 2036.

Florida State wanting to leave the ACC means that, according to the Grants of Rights agreement, they would have to pay the rest of the broadcasting contract to the ACC as well as the exit fee.

Florida State disagrees with this and is willing to take this into the courtroom to decide whether they have to pay this amount to leave.

Whatever happens, this story is going to affect the ACC, a conference that has generally been avoiding the re-conferencing drama as seen in the other conferences.