There has been an ongoing feud between the University of Maryland and the ACC conference. When Maryland announced at the end of 2012 that it would be leaving the conference for the Big Ten, the ACC responded by suing the university for $52.3 million, arguing the exit fee would help protect the conference and its remaining members against the loss of a conference school according to Forbes.
Well Maryland has clapped back at the ACC with a lawsuit of their own. On Monday the university filed a counterclaim seeking $157 million from the ACC plus punitive damages. In the counterclaim they argue they should not have to pay the full $52.3 million exit fee because there is no economical justification for the amended exit fee. They also claim the ACC has withheld $16 million that is legally due to the school, affecting their ability to recruit prospective athletes.
Maryland also alleges that the ACC has since withheld more than $16 million that is legally due to the school. The school is arguing that the denial of conference money has greatly restricted Maryland’s ability to compete on the field and restricted its ability to recruit prospective athletes. It could be a valid point – the school’s cash-strapped athletic department cut seven programs in 2012 in order to get under budget. The $16 million in withheld monies is included in the $157 million total damages.
Perhaps the most surprising allegation is that Maryland accuses the ACC of trying to recruit two Big Ten schools to leave their conference and join the ACC through representatives at Wake Forest and Pittsburgh.
The lawsuit does not name which Big Ten schools were recruited (Penn State is a likely guess given its geographical proximity to the ACC). Maryland argues that the Big Ten recruiting efforts were designed to help the ACC get a more valuable TV deal.
In their claim Maryland makes the ACC seem like a scorned lover seeking revenge because they’ve decided to dump them for the Big Ten. Whatever the case may be, when this much money is involved it never ends pretty.