Florida State exploring a potential ACC exit was a curious move. After all, should the school even find a way to skirt around the conference’s grant of rights agreement, there’s not a clear path to wrangle itself into a higher payday in the SEC or Big Ten.
Insiders do not believe adding Florida State to one of those conferences makes much sense, financially, despite the program’s strong brand. The Seminoles, by themselves, are not worth messing with the $60 million being handed out in revenue to SEC schools nor the $75 million getting paid out to Big Ten institutions.
That discussion has not only changed, but Clemson joining its conference rival in filing a lawsuit against the ACC this week — challenging the grant of rights — has given new life to another potential round of realignment.
Florida State and Clemson are a dynamic duo that could potentially trigger another shake-up across the college sports landscape. If the ‘Noles and Tigers are deemed unworthy of Big Ten or SEC membership, perhaps even the Big 12 shows interest.
In December, I wrote that Florida State extracting itself from the ACC felt like a 5-10 year process. Now, you could perhaps move that timeline up a bit since there are two saber-rattling schools challenging the league. It seems only a matter of time before the three sides come to a negotiated resolution in the nine-figure range.
Florida State and Clemson feel they can, at worst, buy their way out of the current ESPN media rights deal that runs through 2036. The penalty to leave the conference would probably be a little less than the $572 million figure Florida State administrators calculated during a December 2023 meeting.
It’s clear Florida State and Clemson don’t want to be in the ACC. The three parties…
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