Conference realignment is always in season.
Clemson on Tuesday became the second ACC member to take legal action against the conference in hopes of potentially getting out of the league. The university filed a lawsuit in Pickens County, S.C., arguing that the ACC’s grant of rights agreement should only apply to members while they’re in the conference and that the league’s withdrawal fee should not be enforceable.
“Each of these erroneous assertions separately hinders Clemson’s ability to meaningfully explore its options regarding conference membership, to negotiate alternative revenue-sharing proposals among ACC members, and to obtain full value for its future media rights,” the lawsuit reads.
Clemson’s case is similar to Florida State’s filing against the ACC in December, when the FSU Board of Trustees sought court guidance to determine whether the ACC’s exit fee and/or grant of rights are legally enforceable against Florida State. The ACC has taken to court to negate Florida State’s complaint — the next hearing between the two parties is set for Friday in Charlotte, N.C. — but had not filed a lawsuit against Clemson as of early Tuesday afternoon.
“The ACC’s position regarding the Grant of Rights, the exit penalty, and obligations owed by members to the conference, as detailed in its public statements and other court filings, leaves Clemson with no choice but to move forward with this lawsuit,” the school said in a statement. “Clemson has not given notice that it is exiting the ACC and remains a member of the conference.”
The ACC’s grant of rights agreement binding conference members together runs into 2036, deterring outside speculation that the conference’s biggest brands were attainable in future rounds of conference realignment for years to come. FSU estimated the total cost of getting out of the grant of rights to be $572 million between the league’s exit fee and the school’s forfeiture of future media rights revenue. But while FSU has asked a court to determine whether the grant of rights is enforceable at all, Clemson’s lawsuit argues it should only be enforceable while the school is a member of the conference.
“Properly understood, ‘the contractual obligations of the Conference’ did not include providing media rights to games played by a school after that school exits the Conference,” Clemson’s lawsuit reads. “The media rights to games played while Clemson is a member of the ACC are the only rights necessary for the ACC to perform the Conference’s obligations under the ACC’s media agreements with ESPN. The media rights to games played at a time when Clemson is not a member of the ACC were never a part of any grant of rights.”
A court ruling in Clemson’s favor on that point could lower the ACC’s withdrawal fee to around $140 million. (It could also make it easier for any power-conference school to leave its current grant of rights.)
See here (at the bottom) for some background. The ACC has now sued Clemson back, so we’ll see how that goes. I have no idea what the endpoint of all this is, or even if there will be a place where there’s some sort of even temporary equilibrium. I do think we will get to a place where interests other than Big Ten and SEC football will be the sole or main driver of all the action. When that will be and what it will look like when we get there, I have no idea. All I know is that everyone’s house is built on sand right now. It’s just a matter of when it falls over.