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MEGA Conference Realignment and lawsuits Megathread(Its still personal)

thesentinel said:
I'm an attorney and FSU's lawsuit is really a single issue case. All of the antitrust stuff isn't going anywhere. I doubt all the arguments about the ACC's ineptitude will either (even though it's extremely true that the ACC is corrupt and incompetent and was largely a vehicle to enrich the swofford crime family).

The entire issue boils down to that extension that phillips unilaterally gave for ESPN to renew the deal. If the court rules that he wasn't allowed to that, FSU is going to immediately break the contract and sign up with the B1G and tell the ACC to go **** themselves and sue for damages. When the ACC does, FSU will argue that their future media rights were 0 because the ACC has no contract in place. The ACC will try to negotiate a new deal but nobody is going to make an offer anywhere close to the current ESPN deal knowing full well that FSU/Clemson and *hopefully* us are about to bolt.

if the court rules that phillips is allowed to just unliterally extend the deadline, i suspect ESPN will renew the contract and then the price to leave jumps up into the hundreds of millions and everyone stuck in the ACC slowly gets bled to death by the wake and BC parasites until 2030 at the earliest.
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If the court were to rule that the ACC could extend, then it’s not 2030 it’s 2036. And I still think that FSU would still leave because 75 million a year minimum gap from 2026 on let alone the Big Ten getting to renegotiate a new deal in 2030 or 2031 (if I’m not mistaken on exact date) is at least a total minimum revenue gap of $750 million between the TV overall deal and the extrapolation of the playoff money difference going forward from 2026.

The worst case scenario out in the media is FSU having to pay $450-$500 million and if you just do the math they still come out $250 million ahead & possibly higher depending on how the 2030 or 2031 agreement revenue goes.

From there I think it’s a pretty decent guess that the team that comes after Florida State to try to leave can make a reasonable argument that the media rights value that they should owe will have gone down if the most valuable media property in the league has already left because not each team in reality is valued the same, even if they’re all currently getting the same revenue share, which is further born out by the ACC changing the revenue distribution in conference based on success starting this year I believe.
 
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thesentinel said:
I'm an attorney and FSU's lawsuit is really a single issue case. All of the antitrust stuff isn't going anywhere. I doubt all the arguments about the ACC's ineptitude will either (even though it's extremely true that the ACC is corrupt and incompetent and was largely a vehicle to enrich the swofford crime family).

The entire issue boils down to that extension that phillips unilaterally gave for ESPN to renew the deal. If the court rules that he wasn't allowed to that, FSU is going to immediately break the contract and sign up with the B1G and tell the ACC to go **** themselves and sue for damages. When the ACC does, FSU will argue that their future media rights were 0 because the ACC has no contract in place. The ACC will try to negotiate a new deal but nobody is going to make an offer anywhere close to the current ESPN deal knowing full well that FSU/Clemson and *hopefully* us are about to bolt.

if the court rules that phillips is allowed to just unliterally extend the deadline, i suspect ESPN will renew the contract and then the price to leave jumps up into the hundreds of millions and everyone stuck in the ACC slowly gets bled to death by the wake and BC parasites until 2030 at the earliest.
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Agree for the most part except the "ESPN will renew the contract". They didn't renew when they had the chance earlier (that option expired in 2021 hence Phillips unilaterally extending the date to 2/25). There is significantly LESS incentive for them to renew today with the changed landscape ... the reality of the P2 forming and the major focus on networks programming BIG INTEREST games. The majority of the ACC is made up of teams nobody outside of their home "town" literally wants to watch. The B10 is taking away the Friday night slot ... they are starting this season to air major big time matchups on Friday Night Football. I expect they will promote it just like Monday Night Football was in the hey day.

The SEC admitted last year that their "investment focus" is the SEC and we saw what that means when a 13-0 FSU couldn't even make the CFP over a 1 loss Bama. Chances are higher that ESPN shuts down the ACCN rather than extend the contract. They might come back with a new offer, based on future conference makeup, that might be tied to actual viewership, and work some sort of alliance with the B12 for programming some bigger matchups of national interest. The P2 wants to add the cream of the ACC to the B10 and SEC for programming. Question is ... how many will make it? How much will each expand in the short term .. .and then again by the next B10 contract in 2028?

People with legit media connections are hinting that a major shakeup is coming. Josh Pate is legit, an actual journalist backed by a major network, and has network contacts. Even the CFP contract that is being signed, is expected to be revised before it actually kicks in in 2026 (there is a clause that calls for potentially changing the conference payout distribution in the event of further realignment). Every facet of "the future" for college football is taking into consideration "additional conference realignment" and the prime programs of TV viewership value are IN the ACC (ND, FSU, UNC, Miami). One can get too caught up in the FSU action vs the ACC, but another huge factor is ... network horse trading going on regarding future programming participation. Like Josh Pate said "it is all being discussed ... it is all on the table".
 
Rickd said:
Dellenger got it wrong. Fact is the ESPN media agreement ONLY goest through June 30, 2027 and the option (which is now said to be illegal and void) has to be exercised by 2/2025 in order to extend the media agreement to 2036. Now that it was confirmed that the option to extend that was granted was in fact an AMENDMENT and required 2/3 approval ... ESPN has NO deal past 6/27 and they will need to present a new contract offer for review AND FOR ACC MEMBER APPROVAL. Adios.
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Wow... never heard that before... whoever dug that out has earned his money
 
caneworld said:
Wow... never heard that before... whoever dug that out has earned his money
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FSU legal team had to visit ACC headquarters to review the ESPN media agreements and amendments. Not allowed to make copies or photos and viewed documents under ACC staff supervision. Does that sound like a conference management that SERVES the members? That extension is THE case that FSU has ... and their expectation is that any judge will rule the extension invalid / void.
 
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Rickd said:
FSU legal team had to visit ACC headquarters to review the ESPN media agreements and amendments. Not allowed to make copies or photos and viewed documents under ACC staff supervision. Does that sound like a conference management that SERVES the members? That extension is THE case that FSU has ... and their expectation is that any judge will rule the extension invalid / void.
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So the conference members cannot have a copy of their own agreement... what's this..bonded servitude??
 
Rickd said:
FSU legal team had to visit ACC headquarters to review the ESPN media agreements and amendments. Not allowed to make copies or photos and viewed documents under ACC staff supervision. Does that sound like a conference management that SERVES the members? That extension is THE case that FSU has ... and their expectation is that any judge will rule the extension invalid / void.
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The judge can also determine that the contract between ESPN and the ACC is valid given Phillip’s apparent authority to act on behalf of ACC members (he’s the **** Commissioner after all). This can be true notwithstanding Phillip’s lack of actual authority to transact which required a vote. In such event, ACC members would seek recourse against Phillips.
 
Gables Cane said:
The judge can also determine that the contract between ESPN and the ACC is valid given Phillip’s apparent authority to act on behalf of ACC members (he’s the **** Commissioner after all). This can be true notwithstanding Phillip’s lack of actual authority to transact which required a vote. In such event, ACC members would seek recourse against Phillips.
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One fact that does help the ACC members is that the ESPN agreement / details were basically hidden from the members. The members signed the GOR extension with full belief there was a corresponding commitment on ESPN's part. Rather than unilaterally extend the option Phillips should have said "hey guys the ESPN agreement is only through 6/27 ... their OPTION to extend is expiring ... should we approach to propose a NEW media agreement? Will be interesting for sure.
 
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thesentinel said:
I'm an attorney and FSU's lawsuit is really a single issue case. All of the antitrust stuff isn't going anywhere. I doubt all the arguments about the ACC's ineptitude will either (even though it's extremely true that the ACC is corrupt and incompetent and was largely a vehicle to enrich the swofford crime family).

The entire issue boils down to that extension that phillips unilaterally gave for ESPN to renew the deal. If the court rules that he wasn't allowed to that, FSU is going to immediately break the contract and sign up with the B1G and tell the ACC to go **** themselves and sue for damages. When the ACC does, FSU will argue that their future media rights were 0 because the ACC has no contract in place. The ACC will try to negotiate a new deal but nobody is going to make an offer anywhere close to the current ESPN deal knowing full well that FSU/Clemson and *hopefully* us are about to bolt.

if the court rules that phillips is allowed to just unliterally extend the deadline, i suspect ESPN will renew the contract and then the price to leave jumps up into the hundreds of millions and everyone stuck in the ACC slowly gets bled to death by the wake and BC parasites until 2030 at the earliest.
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Lawyer to lawyer here- you missed something about the case in your first statement. The court may rule that Phillips did not follow the bylaws by agreeing to renew the deal, but that doesn't necessarily void the contract. The court will likely assume that ESPN had every right to believe that Phillips had authority to sign the deal (apparent authority). It's not ESPNs responsibility to check if Phillips followed the ACC bylaws. So while the court could say Phillips blantantly violated the bylaws, the contract with ESPN may still be enforceable since Phillips, acting as the agent with apparent authority, bound his principal (the ACC and member teams) to the contract.

The good news for the ACC teams is that that would give rise to a separate cause of action of ACC teams against the ACC/Phillips. The football schools will likely sue, but then we get into the whole thing of when did they know that ACC Commish acted without their consent. On the flip side, the non football schools love the current deal and will probably back up Phillips and claim he acted with their consent, as they basically get to pull a Vanderbilt with the ACC (no one is paying to watch Boston College football). I think the lawsuit by the football schools against the ACC, more than anything else, is what will force a settlement and allow some of the teams to leave. BTW- I personally disagree that FSU would go B1G as they aren't AAU and it also creates another headache with ESPN (they may still be bound to the ESPN agreement since Phillips acted as their agent). Going to the SEC is much less of an issue for ESPN and FSU.
 
AbsoluteUnit said:
What does this mean?

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ND, FSU, Clemson, UNC and Miami.

NC State does not belong in this conversation but them aligning with UNC due to the state being involved makes it interesting what would happen and who B1G or SEC take from those 5 options and NC State being a forced #6 choice.

Only 2 more teams left in Lousville and GT not mentioned.
 
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Mi.Cane said:
Just guessing here but that sounds like a group that would be heading to the Big 12 and not SEC or B1G.
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Maybe, but I would be surprised if UVA is interested in the Big 12. It is a garbage academic conference. Louisville, VT, Pitt, BC, and Syracuse I could see as Big12 but not Duke or UVA. My guess is they are trying to come up with a strategy to keep the ACC together. Why GT wasn't invited is odd though.
 
SaiyaMan305 said:
ND, FSU, Clemson, UNC and Miami.

NC State does not belong in this conversation but them aligning with UNC due to the state being involved makes it interesting what would happen and who B1G or SEC take from those 5 options and NC State being a forced #6 choice.

Only 2 more teams left in Lousville and GT not mentioned.
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Pitt as well
 
AbsoluteUnit said:
What does this mean?

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What he is alluding to here in simpler terms is that when the chair who happens to be the president or chancellor of Virginia at the moment, try to get feedback on the lawsuit against Florida State he essentially called none of the magnificent seven and in fact, got guidance and feedback from multiple schools that might not have a landing place at all.

He has the chair decided that it was not a material issue that required a 2/3 vote even though they went to get a vote on the amended complaint. And in that amended complaint only 10 schools out of 15 voted for it. What is not clear is whether that was all the members in attendance of the meeting which was done on short notice outside of the normal Notification parameters and who those schools were. It could be that 10 or 10 schools in attendance voted on the amendment and we’re not presented or it could mean that 10 of the 14 not including Florida State (not allowed to vote) voted for and four of them didn’t.
 
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AbsoluteUnit said:
What does this mean?

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Hard to say, but my thought is you probably have schools in 3 camps:
  • Schools that have hard landing spots already if they leave the ACC - FSU, Clemson, UNC, and probably Miami
  • Schools that likely don't have hard landing spots yet, but see the writing on the wall and either like their chances with SEC/B1G or have resigned themselves to accept whatever's coming, so they're staying neutral: GT, NCSt, Pitt, UL
  • Schools that don't have hard landing spots, not sure of their chances, and would rather preserve the ACC than roll the dice and land in the B12 - UVA, VT, SU, BC, Wake, Duke
 
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