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Out-of-court settlement was the only logical end game to the ACC-Florida State/Clemson family feud
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All the posturing. All the threats. All the billable hours.
It produced some good theater. And it provided the “Realignment X-perts” with plenty of fodder for speculation. None of it based in fact.
But in the end, the drawn-out legal battle between the ACC and its 2 highest-profile members, Florida State and Clemson, was destined to lead to this inevitable conclusion.
With an out-of-court settlement in which everyone involved can declare victory.
The deal, which was approved by all sides and formally announced on Tuesday, gives the Seminoles and Tigers a bigger piece of the ACC’s financial pie under a new uneven revenue distribution format based on television viewership. While at the same time, maintaining a much more realistic path to the College Football Playoff than those in the SEC or Big Ten.
Just as they wanted.
They also get a potential escape clause that will allow them to leave 6 years earlier than before, provided someone is interested in taking them.
The conference, meanwhile, finally gets to enjoy a period of peaceful existence without the constant threat of extinction looming overhead like an early spring thunderhead.
Under the settlement, 40% of the ACC’s annual television revenue will be split evenly among all its members, other than the 3 schools that were added by the league last year. The rest of the money will be distributed using a formula based on ratings over the past 5 years.
Additionally, the exit fee for leaving the conference will be reduced by $18 million per year through 2029-30. After that, the cost will drop to $75 million while also allowing departing programs to retain their media rights with the league.
“We remain proud members of the ACC, one of the strongest conferences in the country,” Clemson president Jim Clements said in a statement issued shortly after his school’s Board of Trustees voted to accept the settlement.
One big, happy family again. At least for the next 5 years.
It would likely have taken that long, anyway, to have sorted out the dueling lawsuits – filed in 3 different states – and their subsequent appeals. If nothing else, Tuesday’s settlement buys everyone involved a little time to plot out their next move.
That goes for more than just the litigants.
Because while estimates cited by both FSU and Clemson suggest that the ACC’s top earners could see an increase of as much as $15 million per year under the new distribution format, those at the other end of the spectrum could see their bottom line reduced by as much as $7 million apiece.
If you’re Wake Forest, Boston College, Syracuse or one of the other poor, unfortunate souls heretofore known as “the have nots,” you’re going to have to decide if the security of a power conference is worth the cost of a reduced share of the profits that will undoubtedly slant the playing field in favor of your higher-profile rivals.
As for the “haves,” the goal is to strengthen their brand as much as possible. Not just to increase the amount of money coming in. But to better position their programs for whatever comes next.
Whether it’s the death of the ACC, as so many are predicting, or a nationwide restructuring of college football as a whole.
It’s anybody’s guess what the landscape will look like next year at this time, or once revenue sharing kicks in, let alone 5 years from now. By then, conferences as we’ve known them for the past 100 years or so might no longer exist.
Even if things stay the same, there’s no guarantee that Florida State, Clemson or anyone else, for that matter, will have any place to go, assuming they actually do want to leave.
Maybe it’s just that cooler heads are finally beginning to prevail now that the hostilities have ended and the lawsuits have been dropped. But from the sound of the comments coming out of Tallahassee and the Upstate of South Carolina, you have to wonder if this settlement wasn’t the end game all along.
The bluster of FSU Trustee Drew Weatherford’s assertion 2 summers ago that “It’s not a matter of if we leave the ACC, but how and when we leave,” has been replaced by a tone of reconciliation in the statement issued by university president Richard McCullough.
“From the start, we’ve held firm to the belief that the best solution would be one that enables FSU and every ACC institution to earn enhanced revenue through performance,” he said.
It’s anybody’s guess how this case might have played out had it eventually seen the inside of a courtroom and been decided by a judge. Or more accurately, a series of judges. And only time will tell which side will benefit most from its resolution.
But at least for now, everyone can declare victory and finally move on.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
