MEGA Conference Realignment and lawsuits Megathread(Its still personal)

[RightSaidFred]

We ****ed. Oh well, I just moved to Winter Garden so at least I can catch the battle for the Big 12 against UCF every other year now.

I’d like to thank everyone associated with this university who completely ignored athletics for about 20 years. Sick strategy. Glad it paid off for us. *****.

That's one way to look at it. But IMO these cases will be settled. Clemson / FSU will agree on exit fees and leave the conference.

If you're the ACC, and you're smart and take emotion out of it, you've got to realize that the conference has no future with these teams. Whether it's tomorrow or in 2036, it's inevitable that teams are going to leave the ACC. So you have to think about the future and maximizing your future value. There's incentive to get paid by the exiting members as much as possible.

That's the rational take. And what would those settled amounts be? I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that the fair market price would be the future value that those teams would add to the conference had they stayed... so a function of the overall value of the brand to the conference, and the number of years they are leaving early.

From that perspective, FSU's pumping out their chests is a little puzzling, and Miami's stance makes more sense. By crowing about how valuable you are to the conference and how much revenue you bring in, you're really driving up the price for your own exit. You bring in 40% of the conference's revenue? OK, pay us 40% of what the ACC is projected to make through 2036 if you were to stay. That's the market equilibrium.

Your exit fee should theoretically be less if you're a smaller brand. Wake should pay less to leave than FSU. So from that perspective, puffing out your chest accomplishes nothing if you're really looking to leave, except maybe make a few of your boosters feel better in the short term.

 

[USNAVYCANE]

BREAKING NEWS: FSU PEOPLE ARE ********?

That was the ACC Lawyer who didn’t even know Miami was a power five school in Florida

 

[RVACane]

@RVACane ...

You obviously are an expert on these things.

How would you say Miami stacks up to Georgia Tech as far as academics and institutional prestige?

Im not an expert. lol. I just know a little as I have kids with grades who’ve applied to colleges over the past several years.

 

[Ispyin]

there are so many stupid arguments going on in here based on full facts that are immaterial, selective portions of facts, feelings and misinterpretations.

So many seeing a fire when it's just a fire department training exercise.

Could Miami ***** this up in the long run? Sure- I'm not new here. My biggest social post ever was messaging back my season ticket renewal packet saying don't talk to me again til you fire Blake James after 20 years of hurricane club donations.

Do I believe we will ***** it up even if I get ****ed at Dan going to far on a comment that at the end of the day doesn't ******* matter - no.

 

[hollyhood27]

UNC is HIGHLY regarded by the B10 presidents for their academics and reputation. Currently the #22 ranked university nationally. (Northwestern is #9; ND #20; Michigan #21). Adding ND and UNC would be quite a coup ... academically and their BB team obviously is one of the best. Then, simply that fact that UNC is "Tobacco Road Blue Blood" adds to the appeal ... and getting a geographic footprint for the B10 in the heart of SEC country. Would be huge for the B10 to have even regional home games broadcast in that market on a regular basis.

I've been told that Sankey really wants UNC (something to do with their apparel deal and sales...not sure if they get a cut or something). This was from someone high up at FSU

 

[Empirical Cane]

We ****ed. Oh well, I just moved to Winter Garden so at least I can catch the battle for the Big 12 against UCF every other year now.

I’d like to thank everyone associated with this university who completely ignored athletics for about 20 years. Sick strategy. Glad it paid off for us. *****.

Turn that frown upside down little camper.

Big12 won't even take Miami.

Sunbelt here we come.

 

[Angry Ibis]

Absolutely and that’s my point. It’s not just about football.

I mean, we are talking about academic institutions… at least a bit

 

[Hoyacane1620]

I’d need to read the hearing transcript or a playback to form an opinion on it, but two points of caution with that Rohan guy.

First, he’s a massive FSU fan and has some bias here (look at some of his past tweets and you’ll see).

Second, he’s a PI, criminal defense, and workers comp attorney. He’s a litigator, but this isn’t his area of practice or expertise whatsoever. Trust but verify if you see stuff from him.

This case is not going to be as short or straightforward as people think.

He seems to be putting out bites of the Judges questions, and each side's responses - there are multiple attorneys arguing various points for the ACC, FSU and ESPN.

It's hard to judge any prejudice when you aren't also present but his brief reports don't seem slanted in any way to me.

Seemed like the ACC made some points early on but the latter part of the session was not good for them or ESPN

 

[423Hurricane]

Absolutely and that’s my point. It’s not just about football.

No doubt other factors -academics, reputation, etc. - will factor in to any decision but the main impetus of expansion/realignment is football.

 

[RedSquare]

GTFOH with that measured level-headed bull****.

We need snarky emotional hot takes minute by minute.

THAT is how this case should, and will be, decided.

It's the CIS way and really for the best.

What was the judge's opinion on whether we should have recruited Judd Anderson and if he deserved a 4th star, and what has he decided on Emory's arm strength?

 

[Hoyacane1620]

This is the format that was followed today for the first session:

 

[Hoyacane1620]

This is the format that was followed today for the first session:

The Judge did in fact run over this planned time limit. He had questions he wanted to pose on each issue for the three parties.

 

[Angry Ibis]

there are so many stupid arguments going on in here based on full facts that are immaterial, selective portions of facts, feelings and misinterpretations.

So many seeing a fire when it's just a fire department training exercise.

Could Miami ***** this up in the long run? Sure- I'm not new here. My biggest social post ever was messaging back my season ticket renewal packet saying don't talk to me again til you fire Blake James after 20 years of hurricane club donations.

Do I believe we will ***** it up even if I get ****ed at Dan going to far on a comment that at the end of the day doesn't ******* matter - no.

You took a page from my cut and paste book I see with your daily yelling at clouds

Relax

 

[Handsome Squidbum]

ESPN is going to have to be brought into the case.

I'd think the best possible outcome for the ACC would be to coax ESPN's hand to renegotiate a richer deal for the league.

Their lawyers should be working toward that end.

Nobody wants to try a case like this, and appeals could go on for ages.

This case is all about who wants to negotiate when the fees pile up.

I don't know if it's the best possible outcome, but I think it's the most cost- effective and expedient outcome. ESPN moves Clemson and FSU to the SEC and gives the 130 million exit fee paid by each school and a little extra to the ACC as compensation. Let's call it an even 300 million total. Disney then says it will cancel a ****** Marvel or Star Wars TV show on Disney Plus costing 50 million plus and give that savings to the ACC. With the ACCs new (ESPN - endorsed) performance based revenue model, without FSU and Clemson getting a distribution, the top 4 teams in the ACC get a comparable amount as the B1G teams to around 2030. Espn and acc agree the GOR and TV deal ends around that time. We are in the B1G in 2031.

 

[Hoyacane1620]

How is ESPN now involved in the ACC-FSU litigation:

ESPN submitted a filing in North Carolina court in support of the conference's lawsuit against the FSU Board of Trustees, who are trying to exit the ACC's "grant of rights" media deal. In the February 22nd filing, ESPN said the deal contains "textbook trade secrets" and that publicly disclosing the terms of the media deal would be "destabilizing and harmful."

ESPN came out guns blazing in the February 22 filing, calling itself "the Worldwide Leader in Sports" in the opening sentence and claiming the details of the agreement between the network and the ACC should remain sealed. FSU has argued that the figures should be released as it tries to break off the deal set to expire in 2036.

The ESPN filing refers to a number of Florida statutes in claiming that the details of Florida State's and the ACC's agreements would qualify as protected trade secrets, not public records as FSU has claimed in its own lawsuit.

"Whether FSU and its lawyers have committed a felony by knowingly disclosing ESPN’s trade secrets is a question for another day, but, relevant here, there is no question that trade secrets are carefully guarded throughout the United States, including in Florida," the filing states. "The definition of a trade secret under Florida law is substantially similar to that of North Carolina (and California) law, and the terms of ESPN’s agreements plainly qualify."

 

[Hoyacane1620]

Here's an article from a local Charlotte newspaper about the litigation:

First hearing for ACC's lawsuit against Florida State set for Friday in Charlotte

Florida State and Clemson have both filed lawsuits against the ACC since December, challenging the league's media rights agreement and exit fees.

www.wcnc.com

 

[TheEye]

That was the ACC Lawyer who didn’t even know Miami was a power five school in Florida

Breaking News. ACC employees are ********.

 

[FL Cane]

He seems to be putting out bites of the Judges questions, and each side's responses - there are multiple attorneys arguing various points for the ACC, FSU and ESPN.

It's hard to judge any prejudice when you aren't also present but his brief reports don't seem slanted in any way to me.

Seemed like the ACC made some points early on but the latter part of the session was not good for them or ESPN

I’ve only read a few of his posts on today’s hearing (can’t speak to how accurate his play by play is without reading the trial transcript or listening to a playback). However, I do consider him a biased source (hence the tweet below). Not saying to disregard what he says, just that people shouldn’t take it at face value because of potential bias. Trust but verify. I’d say the same if Miami had filed suit and we had our own guy doing the same thing.

 

[hurricaneman]

I have a hard time believing the line that Miami's success this season will have an impact on conference realignment, even though many insiders here have repeated it. These decisions are based on metrics that have heavy, heavy inertia with massive amounts of money behind it. You're not shifting Miami's value in a single season. We're either valuable or we aren't.

Look at a team like UCLA joining the BIG10, which had a very similar two decades to Miami record wise. Viewership wise, if you look at 2017 when we both had double digit win season, UCLA's highest rated game vs USC had a 4.0M viewers. Miami smashed those numbers in multiple games that season. Even in 2023, both bad years, UCLA-USC had less viewers than Miami-Louisville in the same week. Nobody was stating that UCLA needs to prove its value. Miami is the only team, in this entire realignment, that for some reason needs to "audition" for the conferences, even though these conferences have more data than they'll ever need to determine that.

So I just don't believe it for a second. I don't know if that line is out there to sell season tickets and get people excited. But as of March 22nd 2024 these conferences know Miami's value.

 

[passitback]

Right here you said this is all about CFB but then bring up UNC not being anything special in CFB.

I don’t think it’s solely football. It seems that there’s other considerations.

Outside of hoops, or money, I can't think of one other consideration, sans academic prestige.

Ultimately, I have no faith in UM landing in a P2 conference. I don't care to be right, and truly hope I am wrong.

#missouri