Given the nature of realignment, this was bound to happen sooner or later.
Per a news release, Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler (pictured, third from left) has moved to dismiss the ACC’s lawsuit against Maryland that attempts to collect over $52 million in an exit fee to leave for the Big Ten.
“Our lawsuit calls the ACC’s ‘exit fee’ what it really is - an antitrust violation and an illegal penalty,” Gansler said. “Our motion in North Carolina will ensure that a Maryland court will rule on the case.”
The conference initially filed the suit in November in the North Carolina state court in Greensboro about a week after Maryland announced it would be moving to the Big Ten.
When reached by the Washington Post, Gansler said that the ACC has also been withholding shared revenue payments as collateral.
“They sent us a letter saying they are withholding royalties, the amount of money [the University of Maryland is] entitled to,” Gansler told the paper. “They’re doing this because the University of Maryland owes them $53 million, having that against them. Now they owe $48 million.
“When they sent us the letter, that triggered the ability for us to bring a lawsuit in court, saying you owe us this money. That’s what we filed. We filed it for the money and for the antitrust implications.”
These lawsuits and countersuits aren’t anything new and recent history has shown us that this will more than likely result in a settlement. How much and when? Those are details still to be determined.