Florida State discussing future in ACC after CFP snub

[PonyPride]

Never mind the fact that the ACC had nothing to do with it ...

From ESPN.com:

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... g-cfp-snub

[Charleston Pony]

FSU is in the same boat as SMU and they will need to put up or shut up. Better hope they can handle Georgia in their bowl game just as SMU needs to beat BC convincingly to get any respect

[Nedward]

Nothing burger from the same chick who has posted similar stories.

FST is upset and seeking greener pastures. They have no way of getting out of the GOR. Put up 9 figures and move on the where exactly? Slow news day over at ESPN. Their only "reference" was a comment made in August. But sources say...

[Graceland Tar Heel]

Never mind the fact that the ACC had nothing to do with it ...

From ESPN.com:

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... g-cfp-snub

One thing that FSU definitely wants the ACC to do is to set aside a fairly significant part of the ACC's TV deal money to be distributed based on the number of TV viewers drawn to their games. Nobody watches Wake or BC even if they win 8 or 9 games. Large numbers watch FSU even if they struggle to win 8 games. TV pays for those eyeballs, not for either team to win. FSU wants the ACC to acknowledge that and reward for that. And the reason is that the xtra money FSUb will get every year will keep it close to the TV money UF and otter SEC schools get. If FSU gets that, FSU has no reason to leave the ACC.

And that would give the ACC time get its house in tip top, order before the next TV deal.

[EastStang]

FSU will be the UT of the ACC. Always, complaining about their cut. UT destroyed two conferences with that stuff. The SWC, then the Big XII where NE, CO, MO, A&M all walked because of UT's whining and demands for a bigger share.

[Charleston Pony]

I get it though. The SWC broke up because TV money was coming into play and the public schools with larger enrollments, alumni & t-shirt fans just got tired of carrying the smaller private schools. I don't have a problem with a revenue sharing model that rewards the larger and/or more successful programs that deliver ratings. SMU has shown we can compete on a national stage and today's model with NIL is showing it just might happen again in the not too distant future

[Graceland Tar Heel]

I get it though. The SWC broke up because TV money was coming into play and the public schools with larger enrollments, alumni & t-shirt fans just got tired of carrying the smaller private schools. I don't have a problem with a revenue sharing model that rewards the larger and/or more successful programs that deliver ratings. SMU has shown we can compete on a national stage and today's model with NIL is showing it just might happen again in the not too distant future

FSU is a whiner indeed, and the fact is that because of its advantages even over Clemson, when FSU football fails to be at least 3rd best in the SCC, it has coaching issues that are huge. But those things cannot override the fact that FSU is the ACC's best TV draw anytime it can secure 8 regular season wins. And it is TV drawing power that secures fat TV deals. So FSU does have clout, precisely because it is the only large state flagship and/or land grant in the ACC with major football history. If FSU leaves, ACC football is going to be drawing quite a few less fans. And that will only guarantee a smaller TV deal next time.

So it is in everybody else's best interests to make part of the TV money disbursement be tiered, based on TV viewers. One thing that will do is provide another strong nudge for everyone to make their OOC schedules more attractive because that is a way to get larger numbers of viewers.

If that leads Wake and/or BC to leave, so be it. There are several schools that will be in the Big 12 that I have no doubt would be better for the ACC football TV numbers than that pair.

[HubbaHubba]

FSU is not going to leave. Just feeling slighted because of the CFP snub (and rightfully so). FSU has no place to go. They don't have the clout to go semi-independent like ND. SEC doesn't want them (UF is the tcu/baylor of the SEC and would do everything to block FSU from getting in) nor does the Big 10 (14, 18?). The Big 12 (14?) would be a lateral move at best and they would not give FSU a bigger piece of the pie or make FSU more attractive to the CFP committee in the coming playoff system.

[EastStang]

Sounds like they may file a declaratory judgment action in a local court. ACC if they're smart will get it removed to Federal Court. Then everyone appeals up the ladder. Sooner or later, the GOR will be affirmed, or a settlement will be reached. They want more money. Plain and simple. We agreed to forego TV money to sweeten the pot as did Stanford and Cal. The ACC schools need to work this out.

[Topper]

Where was the FSU Board of Trustees when the school entered into this GOR deal? They act as if they are victims. Their gripe about being left out of the playoffs is legitimate, but the playoffs are going to 12 teams which leaves a bit less room for them to be pushed around by UT and Alabama. I read that if they exit the payoff would be $120M? Perhaps in the age of Jimbo Fisher type coaching deals that isn't so much.

[peruna81]

Where was the FSU Board of Trustees when the school entered into this GOR deal? They act as if they are victims. Their gripe about being left out of the playoffs is legitimate, but the playoffs are going to 12 teams which leaves a bit less room for them to be pushed around by UT and Alabama. I read that if they exit the payoff would be $120M? Perhaps in the age of Jimbo Fisher type coaching deals that isn't so much.

As was previously stated, the CFP committee had a wink-wink deal between Big 12 and SEC to include both Texas and Alabama. Sankey has already tried to walk this back, and is catching grief from all sides, including UGA folks who feel he didn't fight for them. The sentiment was that since this was the last year of 4, there would be pushback, but not as much as has occurred.

A move by FSU to Big 10 would help them but is fraught with issues, not the least of which is GOR. Right now there is a whole lot of Kabuki theater and saber rattling, both on the political side with the State as well as FSU's BOT. It plays well in the press and on message boards.

It may happen at some time, but right now I think it is posturing for the camera and microphone. Of course, what do I know....I didn't think this ACC thing would happen in my lifetime.

[JasonB]

Let's say FSU was somehow able to break the GOR through lawsuits and hundreds of millions of payments.

How excited are ESPN and FOX going to be to let them into a new conference, when those media contracts are protected by a GOR?

I don't think this is going anywhere.

[Topper]

The reports coming out hint that the Board of Trustees is going to consider legal action in the form of a declaratory judgment. I suppose to declare the GOR deal unenforceable for some reason. This raises a lot of questions such as which court has jurisdiction over such a case etc. A pure side issue, it has been posted here before that the only copy of the GOR is at the conference headquarters. I find it hard to believe that the schools, especially those from a state system, do not have copies of the contract in their chief counsel's office. But back to venue. A contract of the magnitude of the GOR agreement very well might have a choice of laws and venue provision. The ACC is a not-for-profit corporation with head offices in the State of North Carolina. But concievably it might have been incorporated anywhere. If there is such a clause I would think that it might call for any litigation to be heard in the state of incorporation or the location of its primary business office.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

And away we go I guess.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... ain-future

[Graceland Tar Heel]

Let's say FSU was somehow able to break the GOR through lawsuits and hundreds of millions of payments.

How excited are ESPN and FOX going to be to let them into a new conference, when those media contracts are protected by a GOR?

I don't think this is going anywhere.

It is going somewhere, but we cannot now know exactly where nor when it will arrive. CFB wealth and power are predicated upon having fans that buy tickets and watch games on TV. Programs at state flagship and/or land grant schools that have big time winning football history have those things at much higher rates than do other types of schools (Notre Dame, Southern Cal are the great exceptions). That means that FSU, the only large such school in the ACC, is a must for the ACC to get even the TV deal it has.

FSU people are usually quite short-sighted, but they are not stupid, which means they know their value to the ACC. In many cases, people with power around other ACC schools are stupid about all this in the way that basketball-first people invariably are stupid. That means there is always the possibility that certain FSU people engineer things to be public stunts bro try to make certain that the idiot basketball-first types with so much power over the ACC are forced to wake up and see the real world a bit. I hope that this is the case with FSU right now. If it is, they are going to making big demands behind the scenes. And if their demands are to take a big piece of of the TV money to distribute based on TV numbers per team, then I am all for that.

I've said for serval years now that these changes mean that either the ACC gets rid of Wake and BC, or the ACC will either get destroyed totally or else get demoted significantly. I still know that to be true. Those 2 are our bottom feeders in terms of football TV viewers. They move no needles. Nor is it possible for them to bring to the ACC anything of value that other ACC schools are not already bringing. And no other Major conference would ever have even a hint of almost interest in taking either. So they should be willing to redistribute TV money in any way that keeps the league at full strength.

I hope that this FSU stunt is about getting that done, because that could stabilize the ACC until close to 2036.