yeti92
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I don't think that's necessarily true. My understanding is that ESPN is providing additional money for the "Brand" fund.
ACC ESPN Contract extended
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LT 1967
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See article below concerning the current situation concerning the ESPN contract extension. The article also included an up-date on the status of each of the lawsuits. I have seen very little on this and thought others might be interested. See an excerpt from the article below.
Saturday was a scheduled discovery deadline in Clemson’s lawsuit against the ACC, but on Wednesday, both sides asked a Pickens County judge to postpone it until April 1, according to court records. Attorneys are often spurred by deadlines. Because the general discovery process involves sharing information one or both sides might not want to become public, these are dates to watch as the process unfolds.
The litigation continues to play out in three states (Florida and both Carolinas) as the sides continue to argue about where they’re ultimately going to argue.
The most recent move happened in Florida. The ACC has asked Florida’s Supreme Court to review lower rulings that went against the conference. Those rulings allowed FSU’s suit against the league to proceed in Florida, even though the ACC sued the Seminoles a day earlier in North Carolina.
“Contrary to decades of precedent, the decision undermines Florida’s role in our federal constitutional order and the stability and predictability of our law in ways that will profoundly destabilize our justice system if not corrected,” the ACC’s legal team wrote in a document filed this week.
The ACC’s suits against Clemson and Florida State have both reached North Carolina’s Supreme Court. The schools contend that because they are state entities of South Carolina and Florida, sovereign immunity shields them from being sued outside their borders. The attorneys general of Florida, South Carolina and 10 other states have weighed in to support the schools’ arguments. The legal arm for North Carolina’s chamber of commerce has filed a brief supporting the ACC’s stance to enforce contracts in the state.
There are no hearings scheduled in South Carolina.
www.nytimes.com
Saturday was a scheduled discovery deadline in Clemson’s lawsuit against the ACC, but on Wednesday, both sides asked a Pickens County judge to postpone it until April 1, according to court records. Attorneys are often spurred by deadlines. Because the general discovery process involves sharing information one or both sides might not want to become public, these are dates to watch as the process unfolds.
The litigation continues to play out in three states (Florida and both Carolinas) as the sides continue to argue about where they’re ultimately going to argue.
The most recent move happened in Florida. The ACC has asked Florida’s Supreme Court to review lower rulings that went against the conference. Those rulings allowed FSU’s suit against the league to proceed in Florida, even though the ACC sued the Seminoles a day earlier in North Carolina.
“Contrary to decades of precedent, the decision undermines Florida’s role in our federal constitutional order and the stability and predictability of our law in ways that will profoundly destabilize our justice system if not corrected,” the ACC’s legal team wrote in a document filed this week.
The ACC’s suits against Clemson and Florida State have both reached North Carolina’s Supreme Court. The schools contend that because they are state entities of South Carolina and Florida, sovereign immunity shields them from being sued outside their borders. The attorneys general of Florida, South Carolina and 10 other states have weighed in to support the schools’ arguments. The legal arm for North Carolina’s chamber of commerce has filed a brief supporting the ACC’s stance to enforce contracts in the state.
There are no hearings scheduled in South Carolina.
As ESPN picks up ACC option through 2036, what’s next for FSU, Clemson and all those lawsuits?
The ACC, Florida State and Clemson are still entangled in lawsuits involving TV rights. So now what? Are resolutions coming anytime soon?
www.nytimes.com
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stinger78
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FTFYoThat describes most of the conference realignment threads ....
ThatGuy
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Agreed. This is something I'm surprised I haven't seen more media focusing on - although most things like this don't really surprise me anymore.
GT's carriage fees are a huge part of the conference revenue.
Now, if carriage fees are decided by the state and not the market, then FSU has some serious leverage there as well. But the main thing is that FSU talking heads continually parrot the fact that "FSU is one of the ACC's largest brands." And that will be important in a world where carriage fees dry up along with wired cable television. But carriage fees are still a BIG part of revenue for any conference, and will be for the foreseeable future.
Now, I'm uncertain whether cable carriage fees are decided by the TV market, or the state - if the latter, FSU and Miami still have enormous leverage. But if the former, GT is a gold mine for the ACC, and is carrying revenue for a lot of the other teams (including FSU).
If concessions are being made because FSU and Clemson and Miami are some of the "biggest brands," concessions should also be made based on the actual direct revenue that one school brings into the conference.
Signed,
A marketing executive who knows you can't persuade investors that brand value > revenue
LT 1967
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Good article by Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel concerning the "Brand Fund". Excerpt below.
The ACC’s “brand fund” proposal goes against everything conferences and leagues are supposed to be about. If you’re in the same conference, everybody is supposed to be treated equally and the playing field is designed to be level. If you start giving certain schools more money than other schools, then you’re creating a caste system within your own league.
Could you imagine in the NFL if the Dallas Cowboys received more of the league’s TV revenue than the Jacksonville Jaguars? Even Cowboys owner Jerry Jones knows that would be a bad idea. As Jones said last year, popular teams such as the Cowboys “would win constantly if revenue from media rights wasn’t split evenly, because they’d have more funds to stack their teams with top players.”
The ACC’s “brand fund” proposal goes against everything conferences and leagues are supposed to be about. If you’re in the same conference, everybody is supposed to be treated equally and the playing field is designed to be level. If you start giving certain schools more money than other schools, then you’re creating a caste system within your own league.
Could you imagine in the NFL if the Dallas Cowboys received more of the league’s TV revenue than the Jacksonville Jaguars? Even Cowboys owner Jerry Jones knows that would be a bad idea. As Jones said last year, popular teams such as the Cowboys “would win constantly if revenue from media rights wasn’t split evenly, because they’d have more funds to stack their teams with top players.”
MWBATL
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Yup. That’s how European soccer leagues operate. And that why the big clubs stay in the top tier and the others…..don’t.
stinger78
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I am not sure why this simple point is not more self-evident.
LT 1967
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Just for information, Notre Dame is playing Six ACC games in 2025. They recently added Stanford. I am not aware that this has anything to do with the extended ESPN deal. They should have to play six if the ACC plans to rotate Miami, Clemson, and FSU more frequently on the ND schedule than other ACC members. Athlon article at bottom.
cpf2001
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Other pro leagues have this with local TV deals. Works great for the Dodgers and Yankees. (The Dodgers were also bankrupt a decade-and-a-bit-ago, so it goes to show that money can't prevent incompetence completely, but it certainly is an advantage.)
It's less meaningful in leagues with salary caps, though you certainly have just-barely-meeting-the-floor / not-really-trying-that-hard-to-be-competitive teams in the NHL and NBA.
RonJohn
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I might be mistaken, but I seem to recall that there were discussions with ND about not counting the yearly Stanford game as an ACC game in the agreement, unless it was in the normal rotation that year.
Root4GT
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Accurate. ND has to average 5 games per year. Some years it’s 4 and others it’s 6 while 5 is the norm.
LT 1967
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You may be correct. I was hopeful that in the process of negotiation for the extended ESPN deal, Commissioner Phillips would fight for six if Miami, FSU, and Clemson see ND more frequently. Obviously, other ACC teams will see them less if ND stays at Five. Just a thought.
forensicbuzz
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11 P4 and 1 G5 (a good G5 team)