After the University of Maryland decided to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for the Big Ten Conference for its collegiate athletics, the ACC sued the university in North Carolina. The state then sued in Maryland courts, seeking a declaratory judgment that the fee imposed by the ACC on the university was excessive and was a violation of state antitrust laws because the fee was an illegal restraint of trade. The Maryland court dismissed the state’s case and state reached a settlement with the ACC in the North Carolina case under which it paid $31.5 million of the termination fee.