Conference Realignment

[Techwood Relict]

As to whether the GOR is a "hostage document"

Is that the same as saying a marriage license is a hostage document, or is that hyperbole? Asking for me and the other poor married saps on the site. I've been talking to the BOR. So far, they aren't willing to pay the buyout.....

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Is that the same as saying a marriage license is a hostage document, or is that hyperbole? Asking for me and the other poor married saps on the site. I've been talking to the BOR. So far, they aren't willing to pay the buyout.....

Just don't ask @stech81

 

[Towaliga]

Geez, guys, we’re on page 370 of this thread. It’s almost as if some of you think that GOR, media rights and conference realignment are as important as the signing of Brad Stewart!

 

[awbuzz]

You guys don't seem to understand that leaving without your media rights is not possible. Might as well claim that leaving a the top floor of a burning building is possible because you can jump out of the window.

Not possible, or not feasible? There's a difference.

 

[forensicbuzz]

The exit fee would be less and you would only have to negotiate for two years of rights vs 12. The cost would definitely go down.

Edit to add: The above is theoretical. I think you are correct that the GOR holds until 2036.

I disagree about the negotiation. As others have stated, the ACC gets to set the price at anything it wants. Now, FSU could be willing to forego 2 years of payments to leave, but that wouldn't change a thing for the ACC except that the FSU payout would be apportioned to the remaining members for those final two years.

FSU stated a while ago that the reason they wanted out was not for the short-term money, but the long-term falling behind the rest of the B1G and SEC. I fully believe that when the SEC/B1G contracts are up for negotiation, FSU will leave the ACC without their media rights for however long it is between then and 2036. If it's the SEC, then that's only 2 years because the SEC contract gets renegotiated to start in 2034. I anticipate FSU will not be in the ACC starting either at the beginning of the next B1G contract or the next SEC contract. They will remain members of the ACC until then. FSU will do what SMU has done and receive no media rights funds for the difference between then and 2036 (because the ACC will continue to own those rights). I don't think FSU will be willing to pay a high enough fee to get their rights back (similar to what Texas and Oklahoma did).

Just my non-informed opinion.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Maybe if FSU is truly raising half a billion or whatever they should just leave once those wires land. The negotiations would probably start pretty quickly if it started to look like "ESPN is going to broadcast these Big10@FSU games with the 'ACC rights' for the next 12 years and the announcers will be dumping on the ACC the entire game talking about what a travesty it is that they wouldn't let them buy back the rights" etc etc. Real bad look for the ACC, and with FSU already out the door, the bad precedence of 'raise a bunch of money and peace out' is already set. Requires another conference to take them while it's in limbo, but that's not necessarily impossible. (And, of course, it requires them to raise a stupendous amount solely for the purpose of leaving.)

As it is, it seems VERY hard to try to get the ACC to not play hardball when you're not willing to actually pull the trigger yet.

I totally disagree with the optics. I think the egg will be on FSU's face, not the ACC. I think the announcers will talk about the fiscal savvy of the ACC to keep the rights and not let FSU negotiate their way to freedom. I don't think ESPN hates the ACC like that. I think they prefer to get FSU at a discount.

 

[cpf2001]

I totally disagree with the optics. I think the egg will be on FSU's face, not the ACC. I think the announcers will talk about the fiscal savvy of the ACC to keep the rights and not let FSU negotiate their way to freedom. I don't think ESPN hates the ACC like that. I think they prefer to get FSU at a discount.

People won’t be tuning in to hear about fiscal savvy. Like how ESPN believed they were tuning in to UGA@GT for UGA more than GT despite it being part of the ACC media rights. I think they’d talk about how amazing it is for them to get to cover Michigan/FSU, Ohio State/FSU, etc more frequently… and that easily turns into some snide stuff like “this is certainly an upgrade over Wake Forest @ FSU like if they hadn’t left!”

There’s about 0% chance of any outcome to this lawsuit or anything else FSU does that resulting in good PR for the ACC. That horse already left the barn.

 

[stinger78]

I dislike sEcSPN about as much as anyone else, but I do believe that was an SECheat crew announcing the Tech-UGA game. They were so pro-UGA it was painful. At any rate, I don’t think they hate the ACC, their love for the SECheat is just unsurpassed and far greater by comparison. The ACC makes a lot of money for them, but the SECheat makes a crapton of money for them. Every trailer from Georgetown, SC to Alvin, TX to Sadieville, KY subscribes to everything sEcSPN has so they never miss a game.

 

[slugboy]

I dislike sEcSPN about as much as anyone else, but I do believe that was an SECheat crew announcing the Tech-UGA game. They were so pro-UGA it was painful. At any rate, I don’t think they hate the ACC, their love for the SECheat is just unsurpassed and far greater by comparison. The ACC makes a lot of money for them, but the SECheat makes a crapton of money for them. Every trailer from Georgetown, SC to Alvin, TX to Sadieville, KY subscribes to everything sEcSPN has so they never miss a game.

UGA had been ranked first for most, if not all of the football season. We had been outside of the top 50 for most of the season. Aside from the Miami comeback, we weren’t really on SportsCenter highlights.

Most any college football crew would know about UGA. There are about 20-25 teams that get more than a moment of attention from the majority of college fandom, and broadcast teams, and Colorado was one of them. Teams need to be newsworthy. We were mostly invisible to most of college football fandom last season. Louisville probably was too, and they were the ACC runner up.

 

[L41k18]

Here's what we know, historically, about conference realigment:

1. The biggest moves came out of nowhere, without warning.
Nebraska to the B1G. Mia/VT/BC to the ACC. Texas A&M to the SEC. Pitt & Cuse to the ACC. Texas & Okla to the SEC. USC & UCLA to the B1G.

2. After each big move, everybody made doomsday predictions about what would happen next.... of which pretty much none came true. (Remember? Clemson & FSU were gone, it was a "done deal".. 14 years ago lol)

3. This last wave wiped out the PAC, much like the 2nd ACC move destroyed the Big East. The common denominator? THOSE LEAGUES HAD NO TV DEAL IN PLACE, AND/OR NO GOR.

4. Conclusion?? We can discount all the people who so confidently predict what will happen next. Nobody knows.

 

[stinger78]

UGA had been ranked first for most, if not all of the football season. We had been outside of the top 50 for most of the season. Aside from the Miami comeback, we weren’t really on SportsCenter highlights.

Most any college football crew would know about UGA. There are about 20-25 teams that get more than a moment of attention from the majority of college fandom, and broadcast teams, and Colorado was one of them. Teams need to be newsworthy. We were mostly invisible to most of college football fandom last season. Louisville probably was too, and they were the ACC runner up.

Sure, I get that, but the way they were slathering over UGA and openly denigrating our D was quite unprofessional, IMPO.

Just obvious homers on a national broadcast. I get it if it was an SEC network game, but not a national broadcast. Again, my $.02 worth.

 

[L41k18]

Yes. If there is a TV deal in place through 2030 or 2036 then the ACC will remain, albeit as relative paupers.

At some point folks have to reconcile themselves, first, to the reality that there already are two tiers in P5 football that will be etched in stone shortly. Second, well over half of the current P5 will be in that 2nd tier and odds are very high that GT will be among them. Football will continue with very little change felt, except some little girls will take their ball and go home and stop supporting the Jackets.

Yep.
And, I mean, Tech has been in the "2nd tier" of CFB for almost all of the last 60 years. Yes, we had great seasons in 1966, 1990, 2009 & 2014. But those were clearly outliers.

 

[stinger78]

Yep.
And, I mean, Tech has been in the "2nd tier" of CFB for almost all of the last 60 years. Yes, we had great seasons in 1966, 1990, 2009 & 2014. But those were clearly outliers.

Yes. Preach, bro.

ETA: I may be one of the few but I would welcome that separation.

 

[slugboy]

Sure, I get that, but the way they were slathering over UGA and openly denigrating our D was quite unprofessional, IMPO.

Just obvious homers on a national broadcast. I get it if it was an SEC network game, but not a national broadcast. Again, my $.02 worth.

If you want commentators who do their homework, you have RG3, Roddy Jones, maybe Mark Herzlich, and that’s it. Brock Huard seems to be on Fox now.

 

[orientalnc]

Sure, I get that, but the way they were slathering over UGA and openly denigrating our D was quite unprofessional, IMPO.

Just obvious homers on a national broadcast. I get it if it was an SEC network game, but not a national broadcast. Again, my $.02 worth.

To a certain degree I understand your point. But, does it really matter whether the announcers fawn over uga or play down our weak defense? The game is on the field and we get respect when we earn it. While we played some good football at times last year, we have not been a team most people (UNC excepted) cared about very much since 2016. I understand the broadcast should not be a uga fanboy pep rally, but we have to be worth watching if we want respect.

 

[UgaBlows]

Do you believe that if ESPN declines the 2027 option, and the ACC sells the rights to Apple for 5 million a year per team that there would be no legal recourse for any members of the conference and they would just have to live with that for 10 years?

If espn declines the 2027 option then I belueve there’s a good chance that the Acc follows a similar path to demise as the Pac10 did, crapy contracts will be offered and nobody will be able to agree on accepting a new one

 

[orientalnc]

Good grief. FSU's media rights are not a baseball card. This is the hyperbole augusta likes to ignore from everyone else for some reason. The ACC never paid anything for FSU's media rights. They aren't a tangible object to be sold and resold. They own the rights only to use them in a way that benefits FSU and other members of the conference. They can't sell FSU's rights to OnlyFans if they feel like it. If FSU believes that the ACC is not meeting their fiduciary responsibility, they are entitled to fight that try and break that contract. It might happen, it might not. If the ACC does choose to negotiate buying back media rights, they can't just charge 50 trillion dollars a year. This is nonsense. No courtroom is going to let a small corporation fleece a large federally funded public university out of billions of dollars. The ACC will set their price at some point. It will be reasonable. It will be negotiated from there.

When I read your posts in this thread I am reminded of a quote from the Bible that is ascribed to Job:

“Therefore, I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.”

I am not comparing you to Job, so do not be offended, or puffed up, whichever might be your inclination. But you have given reason for others to believe you will not keep silent.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Sure, I get that, but the way they were slathering over UGA and openly denigrating our D was quite unprofessional, IMPO.

It's no different than what 3/4 of our members here said on these very pages last season.

 

[stinger78]

It's no different than what 3/4 of our members here said on these very pages last season.

True, but nobody here… well at least not openly… postures as a professional forum poster.

 

[Root4GT]

It's no different than what 3/4 of our members here said on these very pages last season.

Our defense did nothing all year to deserve anything but being called out for being a very bad defense. Proof = the Head Coach fired the entire defensive coaching staff after the season ended.