CLEMSON -- If one day there's a book written on the tumultuous relationship between the ACC and the two schools that sued the conference, it wouldn't be crazy if there were a chapter devoted to the following premise:
It took getting sued for the ACC to finally take Clemson and Florida State seriously.
There's a lot to unpack from that idea, of course.
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Including the most tantalizing question that arises from it:
Did Clemson and Florida State exercise the nuclear option only to get the ACC to take the two schools seriously?
We'd say no.
But we'd also say it's a fascinating question to ask in light of today's development that, as first reported by ESPN, ESPN has picked up its option on the ACC TV deal from 2027 through 2036.
That really wasn't the big news, though. Because as much as plenty of you delighted in the idea of ESPN walking away from the ACC (and thereby making it easier for Clemson to bolt for another conference) we have been consistent in writing that we didn't see that happening.
The only question in our minds was what type of deal it was going to be.
And that gets us to the biggest news, relayed by David Hale and Andrea Adelson of ESPN:
"Additionally the league is working toward a new revenue distribution model to reward the biggest brands that would keep Clemson and FSU in the fold."
More from the article:
Negotiations surrounding the option ran in conjunction with discussions between the ACC and Clemson and Florida State on a new revenue distribution model aimed at alleviating the schools' biggest concerns over financial disparities with peers in the Big Ten and SEC, both of which have more generous TV contracts signed over the past two years.
Under the proposed plan, a percentage of the ACC's television revenue would be included in a "brand" fund, and that money would then be distributed to schools that annually generate the most revenue for the conference in football and men's and women's basketball -- with Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina likely at the top of the pyramid, sources told ESPN.
Should that agreement be finalized -- something sources said is not imminent but was closely tied to the ESPN option -- Clemson and Florida State would be expected to drop their lawsuits.
As we've been writing since September, Clemson and FSU were in settlement negotiations with the ACC to get an even bigger piece of the conference revenue pie. The biggest obstacle all along was getting the ACC's presidents to sign off on that arrangement, but it sounds as if that hurdle is clearable based on the presidents' fear of the conference falling apart.
Another part of the settlement would be the Grant of Rights agreements being trimmed from the current expiration of 2036.
From Hale and Adelson:
"As part of the settlement, Clemson and Florida State are asking the ACC to agree to reduce penalties for exiting the grant of rights after 2031, when TV contracts for the Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 are set to expire."
An interesting development came forth yesterday in Pickens County, where Clemson had a discovery deadline of Saturday in its lawsuit against the ACC.
On Wednesday, both Clemson and the ACC asked for a judge to postpone that deadline to April 1st. The request was granted by Judge Perry Gravely.
The news of ESPN's extension -- and the news of the wheels turning toward a new revenue model -- comes at a time when Clemson has a cool $4 million from its first-round playoff appearance at Texas.
That's how much Nolan Hauser's bomb of a field goal was worth when it sailed just over the crossbar in Charlotte for the ACC championship.
And had the Tigers advanced to the national title game they'd have had $20 million all to themselves.
That's not the way it used to work. Clemson's repeated playoff trips from 2015 to 2020, and two national championships, brought in a relative pittance as the ACC's playoff revenue was distributed evenly among its members.
It never made a whole heck of a lot of sense for Boston College or Wake Forest to get a bunch of cash on the backs of a Clemson program that invested gobs more money and resources to put itself in position to play for it all.
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And it never made a lot of sense to Clemson and Florida State that the ACC took so damned long to figure out that maybe it needed to start looking out better for its two football flagships.
It took, oh, a year-and-a-half to finally get the ACC to agree to the idea that eventually allowed Clemson to pocket all $4 million from Hauser's kick.
For far too long, everyone was too nice in the face of issues and questions that ended up being existential.
Florida State decided a long time ago that going the cantankerous, saber-rattling route was the way to get stuff done.
Even Clemson, whose default position in dealing with the ACC had long been buttoned-up and classy, decided a couple years ago to start talking tougher.
And even amid all that the pace of change was glacial.
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It could take months and even years for all the truths to emerge about Clemson's and Florida State's decisions to sue the ACC.
But we know this:
It got the ACC's attention.
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