Multiple sources tell Yahoo Sports that Florida State plans to begin its long-discussed divorce with the ACC soon.
The Seminoles’ conference affiliation is at the center of the FSU Board of Governors’ meeting scheduled for Friday, and depending on the outcome of the meeting, many could achieve withdrawal from the ACC’s binding grant. The first step for a formal legal filing could be to express a rights agreement.
The FSU Board of Governors announced Thursday that it will hold the meeting to comply with the state’s open meeting law, which requires members to notify the public 24 hours before a meeting. Sources familiar with FSU’s potential plans spoke to Yahoo Sports on condition of anonymity for this story.
Details about what legal action FSU leaders plan to take are unclear, but legal experts believe the school will seek a judge to rule that the school is not legally binding. It is possible that the court may seek a so-called “declaratory judgment lawsuit.” Contract with ACC.
The purpose of this legal action is a grant of rights between the ACC, its members, and its television partner ESPN, a legal document binding on both parties through the 2035-36 academic year. Presumably, any claims would be filed in local court, where it would be in the school’s best interest.
The move comes less than a month after FSU became the first undefeated major conference champion to be eliminated from the College Football Playoff. The decision shocked people in Tallahassee and accelerated the school’s planned exit strategy.
This week’s potential legal action is not expected to serve as a notice of departure to the ACC. Leaving the ACC will likely be at least a year away. But such a legal move could pave the way for more ACC programs to follow suit and challenge the league and its entitlements.
Discussions center on conferring rights to conferences. Rights grants are a somewhat common tool used by conferences to legally bind member schools into long-term contracts as a way to secure media rights agreements. The ACC agreed to its current contract with ESPN in 2016.
Although the 20-year deal was considered a plus at the time, the length of the deal caused some turmoil within the ACC as other power conferences, namely the Big Ten and SEC, signed new, more lucrative media rights deals. . Over the next 10 years, SEC and Big Ten schools are projected to earn significantly more than their ACC schools, reaching twice as much as their ACC schools, with this figure surpassed by none other than Florida State in the ACC. This is causing problems for member schools.
FSU officials have been publicly threatening for a year that they could eventually withdraw from the conference, and school President Richard McCullough said in August that FSU was taking the move “very seriously.” “It is necessary to consider this,” he said.
At the same meeting, former FSU quarterback Drew Weatherford, a member of the Board of Trustees, said: The question is who leaves and when.”
Perhaps that talk is turning into action.
FSU’s disregard for the CFP is not the only factor that hastened the school’s default path to leaving the ACC.
In the latest wave of realignment, the ACC acquired the University of California, Stanford University, and SMU, despite active pushback within the conference. FSU, North Carolina State and Clemson voted against the addition. The league added those three programs while fellow power conferences added Oregon and Washington (Big Ten). Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State (Big 12). The SEC also plans to add Oklahoma State and Texas next year.
The ACC’s expansion campaign further divided the league of private and public programs with very different missions and resources. The league pushed for expansion as a way to preserve the conference long-term, given the possibility that some programs would be discontinued.
Officials from the seven ACC schools met multiple times in the spring to consider the possibility of leaving the conference and even consider disbanding the league entirely. These discussions largely died out after becoming public in May. But FSU’s desire to get out of the league, as well as other teams’, remained constant for months.
FSU’s lawyers, like Clemson’s, have been trying to find a practical way out of entitlement in recent months. Although many believe that entitlement cannot be defeated, others believe that schools will still try to find a way out.
In signing the rights grant, schools tacitly grant the league and partner ESPN the right to televise home games. Florida State’s home conference will be owned by the league, not the school, for the next 13 years unless it can find a way out of it.
There is precedent for reconciliation. Just this year, the Big 12 and its television partners agreed to a settlement in which Oklahoma and Texas waived their rights a year early for what was announced as a $50 million penalty to each school.
The ACC entitlement contains language similar to that document. However, FSU will leave with 10 years left on his contract. If the ACC and ESPN agree to any kind of settlement, reversing the rights grants would be costly, estimated at $500 million.
This is in addition to the $120 million the league would otherwise have to pay in exit fees. It’s no secret in college athletics circles that Florida State and other ACC programs are deeply considering future funding through private equity vehicles. Regarding withdrawal from the ACC, a school must notify the conference of the withdrawal at least one year prior to the move. For example, FSU is guaranteed to play in the ACC next school year, and if you want to leave the school to compete elsewhere in the 2025 football season, you must join the conference by August 15, 2024. Need to be notified.
There are also questions such as: Where will Florida State and the other ACC starting schools land?
The most attractive options, the SEC and Big Ten, have indicated they are hesitant about adding members, although such statements have been made before. Big Ten school leaders publicly opposed further expansion before adding Oregon and Washington State.
The changing environment in college athletics makes the future unpredictable and creates a potential path for exits from ACC programs. For example, new governance structures may be created. NCAA President Charlie Baker proposed the creation of a new FBS division aimed at providing direct school compensation to athletes.