"Why would schools like Boston College, Wake Forest and Syracuse willingly choose to give away millions of dollars each year when the ACC has a contract in place through 2036? A contract that also has a long-term 'grant of media rights' tied to it, presumably meaning that any school who leaves will forfeit the television money it would generate for the next 13 years.
We use the word 'presumably' because no one really knows for sure what would happen if the GOR were to be challenged in court. What we do know is that Florida State and other ACC schools have had attorneys examining every word of that contract — and studying all applicable case law — for months to figure out what arguments might be made for breaking it. The only thing that seems certain right now is it would lead to a protracted legal battle.
Over the weekend, I reached out to Florida State Board of Trustees chair Peter Collins to see if he would shed any light on FSU’s position — particularly about the Grant of Rights, since that topic was not raised in the open forum.
This is what Collins said: “We have a very good handle on the grant of rights.”
Well, OK then.
We’ll all have to make our own assumptions about what that means, because Collins declined to elaborate. But he did open up a bit when I asked about Florida State drawing a line in the sand publicly on Friday.
Collins acknowledged that FSU officials have tried to address their concerns through proper channels with the conference and seen little movement.
“We’re going to continue to talk about it. And we’re going to continue to push,” Collins said. “We have to push. We have to do everything we can to take care of Florida State University. Our primary concern is not the ACC. Our primary concern is Florida State.”
Is Florida State bluffing when it openly discusses leaving the ACC? How concerned should the rest of the conference be?
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