Re: FSU closer to negotiating settlement with ACC?

I don’t think anyone wants Clemson to be like FSU, but any rational person understands that continuing membership in the ACC will be the end of Clemson football as we know it. Will we still field a team? Absolutely. Will it compete for championships at the highest level? Highly unlikely. Now, some Clemson fans might be content with winning a G5 championship, but the vast majority of us would not be.

The objective facts are that the ACC locked its member institutions into a long term deal, and seem to have misrepresented the financials, as the current deal is only through 2027, and ESPN holds the cards on whether they want to renew the contract past then, or drop it all together. This extension was supposed to be confirmed 2 years ago, but the ACC leadership has continued to kick the can down the road. If Florida State stays, I’d say it’s a 50/50 shot that ESPN extends that contract, but the chasm between the ACC and the P2 will continue to grow, and nothing the ACC leadership has done to this point, ends in higher revenues to the league members, especially adding value dilutive programs like they did with Stanford, Cal, and SMU, who each do not bring a full share, they bring full “pro-rata” shares which are about $7 million less annually than what current schools make. If FSU and ND leave, as is now being rumored, the chances that ESPN renews the contract at the current rate, are non existent as they’ll lose the 3-4 ND road games per year, and they’ll lose 1 of the 2 bell cows the ACC has, and at that point, the ACC is a glorified G5 league much like the Big 12, and you should expect a renegotiated contract with lower payouts, and an even bigger gap.

You don’t have to want for Clemson to be like FSU to know that the current situation doesn’t work. If you want the best for Clemson, then you want Clemson to similarly find a way out of the ACC.

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Re: pardon my french but screw FSU, can we just ignore them?***

Feb 23, 2024, 10:26 AM

1. It is true that Clemson's arrangement with the ACC (and therefore ESPN) is not optimal, but it is also true that Clemson signed the GOR, not once but twice, and has no real way out. Here, Clemson's position would be as shaky as the position that FSU now occupies.

2. A "deal is a deal," and there is nothing to suggest that the ACC could secure a second better deal after it executed the first. In all likelihood, the first ACC-ESPN contract contained performance milestones that the ACC simply hasn't met. These kind of performance milestones are standard in sports media deals, and, while here I am speculating, this is probably how the SEC renegotiated its deal with ESPN. Let's be honest: ACC games like Clemson-Pitt do not "just mean more." If the ACC hasn't met the metrics, then ESPN has zero legal/contractual obligation and even less financial incentive to revisit its deal with ACC.

3. As for FSU and ND, FSU's case is incredibly weak, and getting out of the GOR has near impossible odds. ND, meanwhile, has a contractual obligation to join the ACC should it elect to join a league. Here, the ACC screwed up by not forcing ND's hand to join the league back in 2020 when ND had nowhere else to go. This is the only instance of true mismanagement. (There has been no credible allegations of malfeasance.)

4. Clemson cannot unilaterally change its league affiliation. There are contracts in place. You just can't quit on a contract. I have no doubt that Neff has hired the best lawyers to evaluate Clemson's case, and that explains Clemson's forbearance. It is far better off watching FSU roll the dice and lose.

5. Clemson's best hope is that ESPN and Fox get together to form one league that creates the best Tier 1 football rights and games. But that is complicated as leaving schools like Coastal, App St, Troy, ECU, Charlotte, etc., off the dance floor leaves any ESPN-Fox arrangement swimming in antitrust problems. ESPN has the content for the SEC and ACC, and Fox has the content for the Big 10-Big 12 (and PAC 12 left overs). Talk about a monopoly.

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FSU closer to negotiating settlement with ACC?

Geez, who's paying who again....?***

Hey bob - could you possibly be ANY more

Vague is my middle name***

I had no idea you were Scandinavian.***

Check your birth certificate.

I'm slowly gathering information on you. So now I know

I assure you - with bob - it is. It most certainly is. Good Luck.***

Re: Vague is my middle name***

Re: Vague is my middle name***