SI on Clemson suit

Mar 20, 2024, 11:50 AM

See you in court

The NCAA basketball tournaments have started, but that doesn’t mean that we can stop thinking about the existential threats facing college sports.

Clemson yesterday became the second school to file a lawsuit against the ACC in an attempt to leave the conference. The Tigers’ suit is similar to the one filed by Florida State in December. Both suits focus on two issues: the ACC’s exit fee and Clemson’s “grant of rights.” The exit fee is the fee the conference would charge either school should it choose to leave for another league. The grant of rights is the agreement between the schools and the ACC granting the conference control over the broadcast rights.

The current grant of rights runs through 2036 and the penalty for leaving the conference before then would be enormous, possibly in excess of $500 million. Clemson’s lawsuit argues that the exit fee is unenforceable and that the grant of rights should be invalidated if and when it leaves the conference. The school argues that the grant of rights and the ACC’s contract with ESPN “when read together, plainly state that Clemson controls its media rights for games played if it is no longer a member of the ACC.”

“The ACC remains confident that its agreements with all its members will be affirmed by the courts,” the conference said in a statement. “Clemson, along with all ACC members, voluntarily signed and re-signed the 2013 and 2016 Grant of Rights, which is binding through 2036. In addition, Clemson agreed to the process and procedures for withdrawal. The Conference’s legal counsel will vigorously enforce the agreement and bylaws in the best interests of the ACC’s current and incoming members.”

The lawsuit is the latest step in a rebellion against the ACC that has been brewing since last May, when it was revealed that seven members of the 14-school conference (Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia and Virginia Tech) had met to discuss abandoning the ACC. While the Pac-12 was able to dissolve last year because it was without a broadcast contract, the ACC’s current grant of rights appears to be the only thing keeping the league from splintering—and now two of its marquee members are seeking to nullify it.

A court ruling in favor of Florida State and/or Clemson would clear a path for other ACC schools to flee the conference and cast serious doubt on its future. Would the ACC be in danger of collapsing just as the Pac-12 without seven of its top football programs?

It isn’t hard to see what the endgame is here. The Big Ten and SEC are expanding, swallowing up key members of weakened conferences. There was always a hierarchy within the Power 5, but the demise of the Pac-12 and the decision by Texas and Oklahoma to leave...