Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE

SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION
COUNTY OF MECKLENBURG 23CV040918-590

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE,

Plaintiff,

v. NOTICE OF DESIGNATION TO THE

NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS COURT
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF FLORIDA
STATE UNIVERSITY,

Defendant.

Pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-45.4, Plaintiff Atlantic Coast Conference (“the

ACC”) seeks to designate the above-captioned action as a mandatory complex

business case. In good faith and based on information reasonably available, the ACC,

through counsel, hereby certifies that this action meets the criteria for:

X Designation as a mandatory complex business case pursuant to N.C.

Gen. Stat. § 7A-45.4(a), in that it involves a material issue related to:
X (1) Disputes involving the law governing corporations, except
charitable and religious organizations qualified under
N.C.G.S. § 55A-1-40(4) on the grounds of religious purpose,
partnerships, and limited liability companies, including
disputes arising under Chapters 55, 55A, 55B, 57D, and 59
of the General Statutes.
_____ (2) Disputes involving securities, including disputes arising
under Chapter 78A of the General Statutes.
_____ (3) Disputes involving antitrust law, including disputes
arising under Chapter 75 of the General Statutes that do
not arise solely under N.C.G.S. § 75-1.1 or Article 2 of
Chapter 75 of the General Statutes.
_____ (4) Disputes involving trademark law, including disputes
arising under Chapter 80 of the General Statutes.

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Electronically Filed Date:12/21/2023 5:38 PM Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court
 X (5) Disputes involving the ownership, use, licensing, lease,
installation, or performance of intellectual property,
including computer software, software applications,
information technology and systems, data and data
security, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology products, and
bioscience technologies.

_____ (8) Disputes involving trade secrets, including disputes

arising under Article 24 of Chapter 66 of the
General Statutes.
_____ (9) Contract disputes in which all of the following conditions
are met:
(a) At least one plaintiff and at least one defendant is
a corporation, partnership, or limited liability
company, including any entity authorized to
transact business in North Carolina under
Chapter 55, 55A, 55B, 57D, or 59 of the
General Statutes.
(b) The complaint asserts a claim for breach of contract
or seeks a declaration of rights, status, or other legal
relations under a contract.
(c) The amount in controversy computed in accordance
with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-243 is at least one million
dollars ($1,000,000).
(d) All parties consent to the designation.
X Designation as a mandatory complex business case pursuant to N.C.
Gen. Stat. § 7A-45.4(b), in that it is an action:
_____ (1) Involving a material issue related to tax law that has been
the subject of a contested tax case for which judicial review
is requested under N.C.G.S. § 105-241.16, or a civil action
under N.C.G.S. § 105-241.17 containing a constitutional
challenge to a tax statute.
X (2) Described in subsection (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), or (8) of
N.C.G.S. § 7A-45.4(a) in which the amount in controversy
computed in accordance with N.C.G.S. § 7A-243 is at
least five million dollars ($5,000,000).

In support of this designation, the ACC shows the Court the following:

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 1. This action is about the enforcement of an irrevocable and exclusive

grant of media rights by the Board of Trustees of Florida State University (“Florida

State”) to the ACC in exchange for millions in rights fees over the last decade (the

“Grant of Rights”). Florida State seeks to invalidate its irrevocable and exclusive

Grant of Rights to the ACC. In so doing, Florida State breaches the Grant of Rights

and its promise that it would “not take any action . . . that would affect the validity

and enforcement” of the Grant of Rights.

2. Consequently, the ACC, on behalf of its members, seeks (1) a declaration

that the Grant of Rights is valid, enforceable, exclusive, and irrevocable through its

term, (2) a declaration that Florida State is estopped from challenging the validity of

the Grant of Rights due to its acceptance of millions under same for over a decade;

and (3) to bar Florida State from in any way seeking to invalidate or breach the Grant

of Rights, or from pledging, selling, or otherwise transferring the media rights

covered by the Grant of Rights to any person or entity other than the ACC.

3. The Grant of Rights establishes that Florida State, along with all other

members of the ACC, irrevocably and exclusively granted to the ACC through June

2036 the media, broadcast, and distribution rights to its home athletic games. In

other words, the Grant of Rights establishes the ACC’s right to Florida State’s

intellectual property rights. As the holder of these media and intellectual property

rights, the ACC, on behalf of its member institutions, agreed to permit ESPN, in

exchange for the payment of a yearly “Rights Fee,” to be a significant (and now

exclusive) distributor of its varsity athletic sports, including Football and Men’s

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Basketball. The yearly Rights Fee that ESPN pays the ACC, who then distributes

the Rights Fee to its members, exceeds $5,000,000. The ACC seeks to enforce the

grant of these intellectual property rights and declare that its ownership, use, and

licensing of same are valid. Thus, this dispute concerns the ownership, use, and

licensing of intellectual property rights, and the amount in controversy exceeds

$5,000,000.

4. In addition, as an unincorporated nonprofit association under North

Carolina law, the ACC’s right to sue Florida State turns on, among other things,

interpretation of the Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act, N.C. Gen.

Stat. § 59B-1, et seq.

5. In sum, this action should be designated as a mandatory complex

business case under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-45.4(b)(2) because it involves material

issues related to (1) the ownership, through the Grant of Rights, of the media rights

for Florida State’s athletic contests, a form of intellectual property; (2) interpretation

of the law governing corporations (which includes unincorporated nonprofit

associations); and (3) the amount in controversy that is the subject of this request for

declaratory and injunctive relief exceeds $5,000,000, as the media rights to Florida

State’s home athletic contests exceeds $5,000,000 and the total value of the ACC’s

media rights under the Grant of Rights is even greater. See Intersal, Inc. v. Hamilton,

No. 15 CVS 9995, (N.C. Super. Sept. 10, 2015) (designating case about alleged

violations of exclusive media rights as mandatory complex business case); see also

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N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-243(3) (value of the obligation or right at issue is the amount in

controversy when declaratory relief is sought).

6. This Notice of Designation is timely under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-

45.4(d)(1) because it is filed contemporaneously with the Complaint, which was filed

on December 21, 2023. True and correct copies of the Complaint filed under seal,

publicly filed Complaint, issued Summonses, and Motion to Seal are attached as

Exhibit 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The ACC adopts by reference and incorporates

the contents of the Complaint herein.

7. For these reasons, the ACC respectfully requests that this Action be

designated as a mandatory complex business case pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-

45.4.

8. In the alternative, if Court finds that this case is not appropriate for

designation as a mandatory complex business case, the ACC respectfully requests

that the Court, in its discretion, designate this case as a complex business matter

pursuant to Rule 2.1 of the General Rules of Practice for the Superior and District

Courts. See General Rules of Practice, Rule 2.1 (“The Chief Justice may designate

any case or group of cases as . . . ‘complex business.’”).

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This 21st day of December, 2023.

WOMBLE BOND DICKINSON (US) LLP

/s/ James P. Cooney III

James P. Cooney III (N.C. Bar No. 12140)
Sarah Motley Stone (N.C. Bar No. 34117)
Patrick Grayson Spaugh (N.C. Bar No. 49532)
301 South College Street, Suite 3500
Charlotte, North Carolina 28202-6037
Telephone: 704-331-4980
Jim.Cooney@wbd-us.com
Sarah.Stone@wbd-us.com
Patrick.Spaugh@wbd-us.com

Attorneys for Plaintiff Atlantic Coast Conference

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 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that the foregoing Notice of Designation was served by email
on December 21, 2023 to:

The Honorable Paul M. Newby

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina
via Asst. Dir. Of Admin. Office of the Courts Ragan R. Oakley

and

The Honorable Louis A. Bledsoe, III

Chief Special Superior Court judge for Complex Business Cases
via Business Court Coordinator Thomas W. Estes
NOD.intake@ncbusinesscourt.net

and via personal delivery on December 21, 2023 to:

Board of Trustees of Florida State University

c/o Peter Collins
Chair of the Board of Trustees of Florida State University
222 S. Copeland Street, Suite 216 Westcott
Tallahassee FL 32306-1350

or, in Peter Collins’ absence, Richard McCullough

Corporate Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Florida State University
President of Florida State University
222 S. Copeland Street, Suite 211 Westcott Building
Tallahassee FL 32306-1470

or, in Richard McCullough’s absence, Carolyn Egan

Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel of Florida State
University
222 S. Copeland Street, Suite 211 Westcott Building
Tallahassee FL 32306-1470

or, in Carolyn Egan’s absence, any other in-house attorney for Florida
State University
222 S. Copeland Street, Suite 211 Westcott Building
Tallahassee FL 32306-1470

or, in the absence of any other in-house attorney for Florida State
University, an employee of Florida State University at its main office
222 S. Copeland Street, Suite 211 Westcott Building

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 Tallahassee FL 32306-1470

Jack Campbell
State Attorney for the 2nd Judicial Court of Florida
301 South Monroe Street, Suite #475
Tallahassee, FL 32301

and via registered or certified mail on December 21, 2023 to:

The Honorable Ashley Moody

Attorney General
PL-01, The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050

This 21st day of December, 2023.

/s/ James P. Cooney III

James P. Cooney III