Florida State targets former ACC commissioner John Swofford for 'self-dealing' in amended court complaint

Another chapter is being written in Florida State’s battle with the ACC, and this time they’re taking a swifter aim at former ACC Commissioner John Swofford.

In a story reported by Ira Schoffel of Warchant, it was revealed that the Seminoles have made Swofford more of a focus in their court battle as their days seem numbered in the ACC, calling him ‘self-dealing’ in an amended complaint.

“Nearly two weeks after the Atlantic Coast Conference raised the stakes in its legal battle with Florida State University by filing an amended complaint in North Carolina Superior Court, the Seminoles fired back with a return volley Monday evening. And it was a scorcher,” Ira Schoffel of Warchant wrote. “In a 59-page amended complaint for declaratory judgment — 21 pages longer than the original complaint Florida State filed in December — the university took sharp aim at former ACC Commissioner John Swofford for a number of allegedly self-serving actions it says cost member schools millions upon millions of dollars.

“FSU’s attorneys also rebutted several claims from, and questioned the legality of, the ACC’s complaint.”

Additionally, Schoffel noted a “more combative tone” during this version of Florida State’s complaint towards Swofford

“It doesn’t take long to sense a more combative tone and an effort to put Swofford in the crosshairs this time around. In the second paragraph of the ‘Introduction,” FSU accuses the Atlantic Coast Conference of, ‘chronic fiduciary mismanagement, bad faith and self-dealing.’ The phrase ‘self-dealing’ was not in the initial complaint,” Schoffel added. “That allegation, which is raised repeatedly throughout the document, suggests that Swofford for years was acting in the best interests of his son, and his son’s employment with ACC television partner Raycom Sports, over the needs of the conference and its member schools. 

“The complaint contends that ACC schools have lost $82 million each year in revenue from their Tier II and Tier III media rights as a result of the conference’s sweetheart deal with Raycom, a regional sports network in Charlotte, N.C.”

Moreover, Schoffel reported that, “Florida State’s amended complaint also provides fresh examples of the ACC’s failure to keep up financially with other college conferences, beyond even the SEC and Big Ten,” citing the conference’s television contract with ESPN.

Among other new claims, the amended court complaint also features Swofford’s name now appearing multiple times in the complaint where “ACC” was used in the first filing, per Schoffel.

Florida State seems headed towards an exit from the ACC, or at the least a severely frayed relationship with the conference. Time will tell what the end game is between the Seminoles and former ACC Commissioner John Swofford, and the conference as a whole, but the story seems far from over.