What does Clemson’s lawsuit against the ACC mean? Here are 4 key questions on move that could have massive implications

Last May, on what began as a quiet Monday morning, ACC athletic directors filed into a conference room within a luxurious oceanfront resort in Florida to begin their annual spring meetings.

A proverbial cloud loomed over the meetings. An elephant lurked in the corner.

In a published story that morning, a months-long secret was revealed: Seven of the 14 ACC schools had independently held meetings in a concerted effort to find an exit path from the conference and its television contract — a deal with ESPN that puts the league at a fiscal disadvantage to fellow power conferences SEC and Big Ten.

Half of the administrators — those left out of the discussions — were aghast at such a brewing secession plan from Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

How could you!?

Intense discussions unfolded. Cards were placed on the table. Feelings were hurt.

And while ACC administrators and their commissioner, Jim Phillips, sang a tune of Kumbaya at the end of that week, the league began to splinter internally.

Ten months later, the ACC sits on what feels like death’s door.

Not one but now two members — arguably the ACC’s top football brands — have filed lawsuits against the league as an initial step in exiting. On Tuesday, Clemson joined Florida State in filing their claim in a Pickens County, South Carolina court, making oh-so-very clear at least one thing: They want out of the conference.

Clemson’s legal filing centers mostly on the ACC’s grant of rights, which, in tandem with the ESPN television deal, binds members together until 2036 by owning each school’s broadcasting rights to their home games. Clemson argues that the ACC (1) does not, in fact, control its broadcasting rights if the university leaves the conference as it, apparently, plans to do; and (2) cannot enforce…

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Publish date : 2024-03-19 21:16:11

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