Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Blake Schuster

6 wild things we learned from Florida State board of trustees meeting about exiting the ACC

Florida State is still big mad about being left out of the College Football Playoff and they’re willing to burn the whole house down with their ire.

To be clear, FSU was hosed, and it’s hard not to feel bad about an undefeated Power Five champion getting excluded from competing for a national title. Yet it also doesn’t make a ton of sense to try to leave a very winnable Atlantic Coast Conference right when the playoff field is about to expand to 12 teams.

Nevertheless, the brass at Florida State want out — and it’s not exactly clear where they’d go— but the school feels the ACC is holding its athletic department back.

The latest step in that process was a board of trustees meeting on Friday where the school’s power brokers revealed stunning findings about the ACC’s Grant of Rights (the legally binding transfer of a school’s media rights of their home games to the conference for a set period), leading trustees to vote in favor of challenging the conference in court.

Here are the biggest things we learned:

1
FSU projects it would cost $572 million to exit the ACC

These wildly high exit penalties are part of why Florida State is taking this to court.

2
The earliest Florida State could exit the ACC is 2025

According to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, as long as FSU notifies the ACC it intends to leave the conference before August 2024, the earliest it would be able to join a new conference (should the school get invited to one) is July 1, 2025.

3
The ACC's Grant of Rights is hidden better than most national secrets

Want to take a look at the ACC’s Grant of Rights for yourself? Good luck.

Arguably the most notable revelation from Friday’s meeting is just how closely guarded the deal actually is. Per FSU, the school is not able to obtain a copy on its own. In fact, only one copy exists. It’s at ACC headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina and those who do view it are not allowed to take pictures or compile handwritten notes.

4
The ACC Grant of Rights runs through 2036, but its current TV deal only goes until 2027

This is also a huge deal — and probably one the ACC didn’t want revealed.

The conference holds a Grant of Rights with its member schools through 2036 despite the fact its current media deal with ESPN only goes until 2027. ESPN does have a “unilateral right” to exercise a nine-year option on their deal with the ACC, but as of now that means there is no guaranteed media revenue after the next three seasons.

Florida State is, understandably, furious about this.

5
Florida State is blaming past ACC commissioners for this mess, too

Florida State is putting a lot of the blame on current ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, but former ACC commissioner Jim Swofford is getting plenty of it, too.

6
Read the FSU Board of Trustees letter to fans here

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.