The phrase “self-dealing” was not in the initial complaint.
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. (Tier II and Tier III rights typically refer to sporting events that are regional in interest, and not the types of marquee matchups desired by national networks.)
According to the new filing, Chad Swofford was director of business development at Raycom Sports in 2008 when the Southeastern Conference sold all of its media rights to ESPN, cutting Raycom out of the deal for the first time in over two decades. A Sports Business Journal article cited in the complaint stated that 20 Raycom employees were laid off as a result of the deal.
“Though just recently employed by Raycom Sports, Chad Swofford was spared in the employee cut,” the complaint states, noting that roughly 80 percent of the media outfit’s revenues were coming from the ACC at that time.
And when the conference’s media rights came up for bid on the open market in 2010, Florida State alleges, John Swofford made it clear to ESPN and FOX that Raycom needed to be involved in the package.
“When the smoke cleared, with the ACC members’ Tier II and Tier III media rights as barter, Swofford cajoled ESPN into entering into a separate ‘sublicensing arrangement’ with Raycom Sports under which ESPN sublicensed to Raycom Sports a package of content in exchange for which Raycom paid to ESPN a reported $50 million a year,” according to the complaint.