It was fun while it lasted Clemson and Florida State, right? The two schools have dropped their lawsuits against the ACC and will come crawling back to the conference. Yes, they will now have a chance at higher revenue distribution. But the ultimate goal for both schools was to challenge the grant of rights media agreement and be able to leave for another conference, namely the Big Ten or the SEC. Those two league pull in far more cash for each of its members, and the idea of Rutgers and Mississippi State doing laps around Clemson and Florida State in revenue burned the britches of those schools down south.
“The ACC Board of Directors approved a revised financial distribution model aimed at addressing these concerns. This new structure proposes allocating 40% of television revenue equally among all member schools, while the remaining 60% is distributed based on a five-year rolling average of television ratings, thereby rewarding programs that generate higher viewership.
Under this model, top-performing schools could receive an additional $15 million annually, whereas others might experience a decrease of approximately $7 million. Furthermore, the agreement clarifies exit fees for schools considering departure before the expiration of the current media rights agreement in 2036.”
While the Tigers and Seminoles will obviously frame this as a win for their programs, it’s anything but. They still have to earn every extra dollar they get, whether it be by on-field winning or popularity. This is totally fine. If FSU and Clemson drive interest in the league and bring in higher ratings, then by all means, take a bigger cut of the pie than Wake Forest and Cal.
But this is not the same as freedom to choose a new destination with guaranteed massive revenue streams, like middling Big Ten and SEC programs still get. No matter how wonderful the ratings are, Northwestern is in a better spot than FSU and Clemson. That’s just the reality.
The problem for FSU and Clemson is that the gates were locked on those greener pastures. First, they had signed the media rights deal they were now trying to escape. No one forced them into that. Secondly, there wasn’t mutual interest from new leagues. The SEC just added Texas and Oklahoma, and that was a headache enough with A&M angst over the Longhorns. The Big Ten just had a massive expansion with the west coast annexation, and doesn’t have the appetite to split the revenue with another pair of schools.
So this temper tantrum that Clemson and Florida State threw ends with little gained except awkward league meetings and a new revenue share that was likely even before the lawsuits. The Tigers and Seminoles got paranoid at falling behind in the arms race (understandably) but then overshot their own value. They waged war with the league and unncessarily created a public mess. Now, predictably, they have to come back to the ACC because it’s still their best and only option.
