FSU vs The ACC

[HRE Otto IV]

What exactly do you think Grant Of Rights means? You need to do some reading.

Cliff Notes version: GOR means you give up your rights to compensation if you decide to leave. Each team granted their rights to the conference in exchange for being compensated by the league for their product/content. That is in addition to paying the exit fee.

They granted the TV rights to ESPN in exchange for being compensated. If you leave you, you do not own the rights and cannot sell them. They are still owned by ESPN. So you give up the ownership of the TV rights, but do you also give up the right to compensation? If there is not language saying that, would they not be entitled to the payout?

I haven't seen anything indicating that. If it is out there, please provide. Shouldn't be hard.

Or to put this another way..

FSU: Hi ESPN, we are selling you our TV rights until 2036.
ESPN: Great news. We will pay you $30M per year for that.
FSU: Agreed.
FSU: We changed our mind we want to go play in the B1G.
ESPN: Well we still own your TV rights so if you want to resell them you need to buy them back.
FSU: We cannot afford that. You can keep them but you still owe us that $30M a year.

 

[Hoo's That]

Do the B1G or SEC even have a GoR? I thought they didn't.

If they don't, it will be even easier for the Bamas and Michigans to leave for the superconference.

 

[orange79]

They granted the TV rights to ESPN in exchange for being compensated.

Who is 'they"?

Teams granted their rights to the league, not ESPN. The league deals with ESPN, not the individual teams.

And you can do your own homework, especially if it isn't hard.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Who is 'they"?

Teams granted their rights to the league, not ESPN. The league deals with ESPN, not the individual teams.

And you can do your own homework, especially if it isn't hard.

Well what I mentioned is what happened with Texas and Oklahoma. They will be in the SEC for 2024-25 yet they were owned B12 TV money for 2024-25 as per their GoR. They agreed as part of their exit to forfeit that money to the B12 in lieu of paying the $160M exit fee.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Maybe the real FSU lawsuit is the friends we made along the way.

 

[Scooch]

I don't put anything past the state of Florida. They're taking in Disney. Why wouldn't they take on the ACC

DeSantis chickened out of all their Disney lawsuits once the public got bored with it.

It’s all bluster from the state of Florida. Same will apply here.

 

[721Comstock]

DeSantis chickened out of all their Disney lawsuits once the public got bored with it.

It’s all bluster from the state of Florida. Same will apply here.

Because both Meatball Ron and FSU have/had no legal leg to stand on.

All for show and to appeal to their base.

Gives the appearance of “doing something” and “fighting big media” (or whatever), but all the saber rattling ends up looking more like this:

 

[Scooch]

They granted the TV rights to ESPN in exchange for being compensated. If you leave you, you do not own the rights and cannot sell them. They are still owned by ESPN. So you give up the ownership of the TV rights, but do you also give up the right to compensation? If there is not language saying that, would they not be entitled to the payout?

I haven't seen anything indicating that. If it is out there, please provide. Shouldn't be hard.

Or to put this another way..

FSU: Hi ESPN, we are selling you our TV rights until 2036.
ESPN: Great news. We will pay you $30M per year for that.
FSU: Agreed.
FSU: We changed our mind we want to go play in the B1G.
ESPN: Well we still own your TV rights so if you want to resell them you need to buy them back.
FSU: We cannot afford that. You can keep them but you still owe us that $30M a year.

That’s not accurate. The GoR is what orange79 said. Each school has granted the ACC the full right to sell, collect, and redistribute their national and regional media rights and compensation until 2036.

If FSU leaves the ACC and joins the B1G, then they forfeit any ACC media money (because they’re not playing in the conference) and they owe the ACC any national media money they do obtain (because they granted their rights contractually to the ACC).

This is precisely why no school has ever challenged a GoR. It’s a draconian contract term, by design. It’s literally written to ensure that no school flakes out.

 

[Sherman20]

Do the B1G or SEC even have a GoR? I thought they didn't.

the SEC has a GOR. The Big 10 didn’t. But they might have one now. Can’t remember.

 

[orlandoorange]

From what I've read, ESPN hasn't approved the deal yet beyond '26. If I were FSU I'd argue hey, I gave you my media rights and you haven't done what you said you would.

Inside the legal strategy to extricate Florida State from ACC 'barbed wire fence'

Florida State University wants out of what it sees as a raw deal with the Atlantic Coast Conference – and it is not going to go quietly and doesn't want pay more than a half-billion dollars to do it.

www.tallahassee.com

 

[Sherman20]

That's the problem, they will be poor compared to other leagues, which means SU will be poor as well, not UCONN poor, but poor.

All ACC teams are in the same boat, FSU is screaming the loudest right now. They have a sister school 2 hours away that cashes SEC checks. I have a feeling UNC, UVA, and Miami will be yelling just as loudly before long.

And FSU had a much more successful season than Florida, a top 5 team! And they have two national titles in the past 12 years or whatever and Florida has none. And no SEC titles either, I believe. So again, tell me how more and more TV money translates to athletic success?

 

[HRE Otto IV]

From what I've read, ESPN hasn't approved the deal yet beyond '26. If I were FSU I'd argue hey, I gave you my media rights and you haven't done what you said you would.

Inside the legal strategy to extricate Florida State from ACC 'barbed wire fence'

Florida State University wants out of what it sees as a raw deal with the Atlantic Coast Conference – and it is not going to go quietly and doesn't want pay more than a half-billion dollars to do it.

www.tallahassee.com

The GoR says 2036 in it.

 

[721Comstock]

From what I've read, ESPN hasn't approved the deal yet beyond '26. If I were FSU I'd argue hey, I gave you my media rights and you haven't done what you said you would.

Inside the legal strategy to extricate Florida State from ACC 'barbed wire fence'

Florida State University wants out of what it sees as a raw deal with the Atlantic Coast Conference – and it is not going to go quietly and doesn't want pay more than a half-billion dollars to do it.

www.tallahassee.com

FSU can’t say that they get a Get Out Of Jail Free card now,
due to something that may or may not happen three years from now.

Might possibly be harmed years in the future isn't gonna cut it, for getting out of a contract.

 

[WoadBlue]

I've heard it was TCU that got pushed aside for Baylor. In addition to Richards, a super bigwig in the legislature was a Baylor grad and they combined forces to require the Big XII to take Baylor to get UT and ATM.

It was Houston, because Texas had decided that the SWC died because it had too many small private schools. So Texas preferred Houston to anybody else. And A&M wanted to play in Houston every other year. But A&M's rivalry with Baylor even had name: Battle of the Bravos.

Baylor long has had much more political clout in TX than the number of alums would suggest. So Baylor getting into the Big XII was about more than just 1 TX governor.

 

[WoadBlue]

Do the B1G or SEC even have a GoR? I thought they didn't.

BT does for sure. SEC did not even have an exit fee until recently. And art may now have a GOR too.

 

[WoadBlue]

For certain? You know what college sports look like in 5 years? 10?

Oh, why thank you sir for letting us peasants suckle from your teet, may we have some more?

G.t.f.o. Merry Christmas.

You sound just like all the BE fans who were certain that BE football was safe forever.

Yes, I am right. And everything that has been happening screams how right I am. This is not some game to put FSU in its place. They SEC and BT, Disney and Fox, intend to make certain that Major CFB is restricted to 2 leagues. They have totally destroyed the Pac, not some nothing Bev football but the Pac, and now they are determined to do the same to the ACC, the last other league that could remain Major.

The ACC schools that will be hurt most by FSU leaving are Wake, BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville, because none have any shot of getting into BT or SEC. VT, GT, NCSU, Dook may not be much better off. If UNC and UVA choose to remain in a weakened AC minus FSU and Clemson, they too will suffer greatly, because there ACC will never again be Major.

 

[tbonezone]

Bold strategy.

anquan boldin bold !


good luck navigatoring that thru the courts.

 

[sufan59]

You sound just like all the BE fans who were certain that BE football was safe forever.

Yes, I am right. And everything that has been happening screams how right I am. This is not some game to put FSU in its place. They SEC and BT, Disney and Fox, intend to make certain that Major CFB is restricted to 2 leagues. They have totally destroyed the Pac, not some nothing Bev football but the Pac, and now they are determined to do the same to the ACC, the last other league that could remain Major.

The ACC schools that will be hurt most by FSU leaving are Wake, BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville, because none have any shot of getting into BT or SEC. VT, GT, NCSU, Dook may not be much better off. If UNC and UVA choose to remain in a weakened AC minus FSU and Clemson, they too will suffer greatly, because there ACC will never again be Major.

Why do you think Syracuse has no shot in getting into the Big Ten or SEC if things hit the fan? Syracuse is a low risk potentially high reward add for any of these conferences.

 

[orlandoorange]

FSU can’t say that they get a Get Out Of Jail Free card now,
due to something that may or may not happen three years from now.

Might possibly be harmed years in the future isn't gonna cut it, for getting out of a contract.

They can say whatever they want. If they win or not is up to a judge. No one has tried to get out of a GOR, so who knows and who knows if they reach a settlement.

The ACC has done a terrible job negotiating on behalf of the schools. Look at the media markets. The ACC has 9 of the top 23 markets in their footprint.

 

[Toga]

Florida State is poorly endowed. Someone had to say it.

 

[Scotch]

They can say whatever they want. If they win or not is up to a judge. No one has tried to get out of a GOR, so who knows and who knows if they reach a settlement.

The ACC has done a terrible job negotiating on behalf of the schools. Look at the media markets. The ACC has 9 of the top 23 markets in their footprint.

You think Swofford left money on the table in negotiations? The fact is despite the markets the ACC has smaller private schools that just don’t bring the ratings that the B1G and SEC do. Quite frankly FSU doesn’t bring what Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and OSU do either. It’s been apples and oranges even before they started expanding. The ACC got what it was worth and Swofford did a solid job just keeping it together. FSU is just pitching a hissyfit because of this reality.

 

[anomander]

Realism. No thanks, is actually what you are asserting. TV pays for TV viewers drawn. FSU always, even at 6-6, is going to outdraw BC.

The ACC minus FSU will be worth less, plain and simple. Minus FSU and Clemson, the ACC is going to be much less valuable than the current Big 12.

Sop which is perfeerabl to BC and Wake and Syracuse: making a hunk of the TV money be distributed on TV numbers, or all three watching the ACC get gutted and become a non-Major conference?

UNC is not going to get left behind. But all 3 of you will be, for certain.

Yep, I am extremely nervous with plenty and plenty of talk out there all ending points have SU, BC, and WF being left out of everything. I thought the B12 would be a good fit since we had a trophy game with WVU and would help balance their eastern pod but it seems like we will be left out. If our basketball brand didn't totally tank with Boeheim hanging on for dear life we may have had a lifeline but right now we are in a very tough position. Our best hope is that FSU is denied and stuck in the conference for at least another 5 years and that gives us 5 years to get our stuff together on the football field and basketball wouldn't hurt. Otherwise we are destined for the AAC, or independence, but neither solution is ideal because we will lose out on tens of millions of dollars. Hopefully Wildhack is as savvy as most believe because he's going to need to pull out a miracle to keep us some what relevant.

 

[anomander]

This is all wrong. But enjoy your blissful ignorance. The other schools don’t want to go be also-rans in the SEC or Big 10–unless they have no choice. UNC, UVA and others are founding members of the ACC. Just like Washington, Oregon and Arizona State etc were trying to save the PAC 12 up until the last minute, even though their conference GOR had expired. They only left for the Big 10 when the crappy Apple deal (no broadcast network) came back and it wasn’t at all what they expected, and they felt that their hand was forced. The longterm ACC GOR—and the money associated to get out of it—is a whole other ball of wax. The schools gave up their home TV rights to the conference til 2036. It’s not going to be easy to get out of by any stretch. Probably impossible. And the SEC and Big 10 aren’t going to want to touch them until all litigation is resolved which could be years away. The other desirable schools like UNC, Virginia and Miami want to make this work and are pissed at FSU for making this move and potentially destabilizing the conference. They have no reason to make a move right now. They’ll always have a safe landing spot. FSU has been the petulant child agitating against the ACC for years now. Honestly the ACC should sue FSU for damages and destabilizing the conference behind the scenes.

I really don't think they care about being also-rans as much as they want that extra $30m. If FSU finds a way out we are in deep trouble because everyone will follow. ACC should have been proactive a long time ago and raided the B12 before they made their move. Thank Duke for not allowing WVU in. When OU and Texas left the B12 and they were on the backfoot the ACC should have made a move for WVU, OK St, Baylor, TCU, Houston, Kansas, Kansas St, etc. Now we have to hope we somehow get picked up by the B12 once it all comes to a end be it this year, 5 years, or 2036.

 

[CuseIsGodsTeam]

How many times is Woadblue going to tell us that we’re not going be at the big boy table?

If this thing ends up 2 conferences, we’re going to the Big 10.

 

[GHLF]

Realism. No thanks, is actually what you are asserting. TV pays for TV viewers drawn. FSU always, even at 6-6, is going to outdraw BC.

The ACC minus FSU will be worth less, plain and simple. Minus FSU and Clemson, the ACC is going to be much less valuable than the current Big 12.

Sop which is perfeerabl to BC and Wake and Syracuse: making a hunk of the TV money be distributed on TV numbers, or all three watching the ACC get gutted and become a non-Major conference?

UNC is not going to get left behind. But all 3 of you will be, for certain.

I emphatically beg to differ, If we are successful, esp in football we have a huge following in the entire NE corridor. Sig higher than BC, Pitt Rutgers, and if successful on par certainly with PSU, WV for tv viewership. That is why we are investing so much in football. Last 15 years have hurt, however still have a big draw on TV. If the ACC were to implode, if we were strong in FB we would land there. We would bring in NYC to a much greater degree as well

Lastly, concerning FSU- Pony up, they will have to. Long time left on contract/GOR and once again, OU/UT/USC/UCLA all settled at the end of their contracts. No such discussion with FSU. Over a decade. I think they are in for a rude awakening. Important for other members to stay strong.... so much