CLEMSON -- This had the look, feel and sound of a historic day for Clemson as it went through the formality of approving the settlement with the ACC.
With these terms, they couldn't approve and second it fast enough.
In boardroom parlance, it was so moved.
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And it felt so good.
Disproportionate revenue sharing is of course a major part of the settlement that ends the triangle of lawsuits among the ACC and its two flagship football institutions, Clemson and Florida State.
But there's zero doubt the biggest item -- and the biggest victory -- was the effective wiping away of the Grant of Rights.
This was the document that Clemson signed in 2016, and celebrated itself at the time, to assure the stability of the ACC during a much different time.
But this was the document that supposedly bound Clemson and everyone else to the conference for a term that became more staggering as the college athletics landscape became more unrecognizable over the past four years.
A 20-year deal. Through 2036.
The gulps got deeper with each round of realignment craziness.
If you wanted to leave you had to pay not just a large exit fee but also watch the ACC keep your TV rights through the end of the deal.
This was the albatross that president Jim Clements had to answer for as many people assumed the agreement was ironclad.
Turns out, not so much.
When Clemson filed its own lawsuit a year ago, following Florida State, the perception was that the Tigers were doing it to flee the conference.
Maybe it's a matter of semantics, but there was an important nuance we specified at the time that seems important now:
Clemson was suing to gain clarity on the Grant of Rights. Clemson was suing not necessarily to bolt the conference, but to get a number on what it would cost to leave the conference.
There was a lien on the house and no one knew the number.
Clemson and everyone else now has a number. And that number isn't tied to the ACC controlling a school's television rights through 2036.
If anyone wants to leave in fiscal year 2026, the number is $165 million.
It descends $18 million per year until $75 million in 2030-31, at which point it levels off through 2036.
And, oh by the way: The Big Ten's current media rights deal expires at the end of the 2029-30 school year.
This part was in italics as part of the slideshow AD Graham Neff presented to the Board of Trustees.
Upon payment of Exit Fee an exiting member leaves with their future media rights.
Boom.
You think that's not worth the $3-$5 million of legal fees it cost to get a price tag on free agency?
It's our nature to identify winners and losers from any battle. And it strains credulity to suggest that Clemson and Florida State aren't the clear winners here.
Because if the ACC had any real leverage, there's no way in hell that the conference agrees to just wipe away the Grant of Rights that was supposedly unbreakable and guarded like nuclear codes at the conference offices -- not to mention agreeing to disproportionate revenue sharing that undoubtedly makes a lot of other schools unhappy.
Neff praised the ACC for its support of an "innovative, progressive model."
"This will help strengthen the ACC," he said. "A strong Clemson is good for the ACC, and a strong ACC is good for Clemson."
Clements said all the right things too: "We achieved our goals. The ACC is a great home for Clemson."
Trustee Bill Smith praised the "professional" way Clemson handled itself through the years-long battles with the ACC.
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He didn't specifically mention Florida State's contrasting and bombastic style, but he didn't have to.
"Not once did you jeopardize our character, integrity or morals," he told Clements, Neff and others who had to take part in many difficult conversations with ACC leadership.
Life in the ACC has been good for Clemson, and it can continue to be good for Clemson.
Hard to predict what things will look like in two years, let alone in 2030.
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But we know Clemson will have flexibility moving forward to react to whatever the landscape looks like, and in the meantime be well compensated for continued high achievement and high visibility within the ACC.
The court case is over, but no judge is needed to decide the victor of this battle.
