ACC ?les lawsuit against Maryland to ensure exit fee is paid

The Atlantic Coast Conference is used to having its members fight out their battles on the field — but the next clash will take place in a courthouse.

In the wake of the University of Maryland’s decision to leave the ACC, the conference filed a lawsuit against the university on Monday.

Rather than try to keep the university in the ACC, the conference wants to ensure Maryland pays its hefty $52.3 million withdrawal fee.

Since the university’s decision to join the Big Ten, Maryland President Wallace Loh has said the fee is illegal and unenforceable.

The fee was raised from approximately $21.8 million by the ACC Council of Presidents in September. Loh voted against the increase.

“There is the expectation that Maryland will fulfill its exit fee obligation,” ACC Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement.

Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said Maryland willingly entered the contract, so it has to pay the fee.

“I don’t know what Maryland’s legal theory could be — they are smart, grown-up people with lawyers,” he said.

Maryland’s departure sparked further speculation about the future of the ACC and the potential reshuffling of schools in other conferences.

On Tuesday, the Big East Conference announced East Carolina University will be joining it as a football member starting in 2014.

Coyte Cooper, a UNC sports administration professor, said other members, such as UNC, could join Maryland in its departure from the ACC.

“The $50 million exit fee doesn’t seem to be deterring people (from leaving),” he said. “UNC would probably consider (leaving) if people keep moving.”

Karen Weaver, professor of sports administration at Drexel University, said other conferences have more attractive funding models than the ACC.

“The Big Ten, the Pac-12, the SEC and the Big 12 are the only conferences not hemorrhaging folks,” she said.

The Big Ten Conference equally distributes its revenue to member schools, which is why the conference has not lost members, Weaver said.

The conference distributed $284 million to its 12 schools at the end of the last fiscal year, according to ESPN.

Coyte said Maryland decided to leave the ACC because the increase in revenue from the Big Ten will help save athletics programs operating in a deficit. In the summer, Maryland eliminated seven of its varsity teams to offset the deficit.

Coyte, who worked with the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, said it’s disappointing that schools make decisions for student athletes based on money.

Weaver said Maryland’s move to a new geographic conference will exhaust traveling student athletes and put extra pressure on teams to win in a more competitive conference.

“It’s teams other than football — lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, tennis and wrestling — that compete a lot,” she said. “I don’t know how they’re going to do it.”

Coyte said the pressure for college teams to win is partly to blame for academic scandals, like at UNC.

Coyte said university administrators are responsible for making wise monetary and athletics decisions in the best interests of student athletes.

“When you have this much pressure to win, it affects their ability to be a student.”

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.