I can kind of understand that reaction, coming from any ACC fans who have seen FSU destabilizing their conference for the past 18 months. I totally get it.
a) FSU fans with any brains understand the lay of the land, that there are non-athletic reasons why they can't get a home in the premier paid conferences. Too far for the PAC, not meeting the academics of the B1G, duplicating a market in the SEC. That said, we've watched the following train wrecks of programs punch their ticket to eternal security and endless rivers of cash: Missouri, Maryland, Rutgers, Colorado, Utah. There isn't a single one of those that is clearly more deserving than Syracuse, how do you think FSU fans feel when they see that? A top 15 football brand, third best basketball team in the ACC, top 10 Directors cup, 80k stadium, big TV draw, two national championships, two Heisman winners, and massive state population. Clearly you can see the frustration at being stuck as by far the lowest TV payout (at the time) and a conference that seemed to clearly oppose FSU at every opportunity (at the time).
That said, I can also understand a school like Syracuse saying "cry me a river" about making $13M or $17M a year compared to where you've been. That's fair, but relative to who we are going up against among our regional peers and , and what our fan base's expectations are, the feeling isn't much different than what you felt.
In other words, rational fans understand why we don't bring "value" like Rutgers or Maryland, but they're pretty pissed about it. But until recently, they also didn't feel like the ACC looked at FSU and other football schools with any value (I believe this has changed).
b) As for the difference in millions, there is some truth to this. But money seriously matters at FSU. We are a very young program, and extremely geographically isolated from our fans. We don't have the financial resources of our ACC peers, let alone those of the schools we really compete against for coaches, athletes and attention, like UF, Alabama, UGA. And yet, FSU's legitimate goal is the national championship every year. We walk a very difficult tightrope of the highest expectations, combined with less resources than those we compete with. We've always done it, but it isn't getting any easier. Money is a very big deal to FSU, unless we're prepared to be a "just good" team.
That said, you are very correct that some FSU folks over-estimate the media rights revenue aspect. There is a lot more to revenue than TV rights, and FSU could sign a Notre Dame-type deal and they still wouldn't come close to Florida's revenue. So a lot of FSU people don't want to acknowledge that making $7-$8 Million more isn't a game changer on it's own.
But FSU fans were looking at a $13M media rights deal while schools like USC, Tennesee, UGA, UF etc were getting ready to pull $30M+, and that's simply not acceptable either.
c) I would dare say that FSU is pretty damn crucial considering how big a role football plays in conference revenue. It's just the way it is right now. FSU is one of very few schools in the ACC positioned to challenge for national titles regularly. To the idea of a competetive football conference that competes with the likes of the SEC, B1G, PAC, Big 12, FSU is definitely crucial. As is Miami, Clemson, VT and probably North Carolina.
However, if you want to ask how crucial is to the ACC as they stand today, maybe not so much. You could remove FSU and the ACC would still have been the giant ball of football suck that it has been the past 10 years. FSU hasn't done much to help the ACC until the last couple years. So you are right if you're looking at it that way.
So, crucial to the ACC maintaining their place as the fifth best football, and fifth best paid conference, maybe not. Crucial to the ACC being a legitimate football conference and someday maybe being paid with the big boys? I'd say yes.
Again, I don't blame fans of other schools for getting tired of hearing FSU folks rattling the cage. I was all for cage rattling, and I still am, I've been doing my share of it. But for the last couple months I've been afraid it could go to far, and we could see UNC/UVA/GT/Duke to the B1G, NCSU/VT to the SEC, and we'd end up in the Big 12 with Miami.
So while I'm not in love with the ACC, without an SEC invite coming, I'm glad we signed after getting major, major improvements, but before UNC or VT called our bluff.
And I've come way, way around about the addition of Syracuse, now that the money is there, and we don't have to play a 9th conference game. I hope you guys do well and an awesome football tradition is reignited there.
