Florida State and Clemson are “hoping they, too, can use the legal system to kick and scream their way out of the ACC," according to Mike Bianchi of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. First, it was Florida State back in December, and now it is Clemson filing a lawsuit earlier this week "in an attempt to get out of a grant-of-rights contract" that binds them to the ACC for 12 more years, and "within the legal crying and caterwauling,” exclaimed that the ACC’s grant-of-rights contract and exit fees were “’unconscionable’ and ‘unenforceable.’” Bianchi noted Clemson’s lawsuit came on the same day that the College Football Playoff and ESPN announced a new six-year, $7.8B contract that “further accentuated the financial gap between the SEC/Big Ten and the ACC.” Bianchi: “I get the financial reasons why Clemson and FSU both want out of the ACC, and I’d do the same thing if I were running their athletic departments. After all, it’s been well reported that the SEC and Big Ten annual media deals will soon be worth about $30-$40 million per team more than the ACC’s media deal.” Bianchi added it is “not like the ACC forced Clemson and FSU to sign the media-rights deal and the grant-of-rights agreement.” However, when the “market changed and TV rights fees rapidly escalated, the ACC was stuck with a protracted subpar media deal until 2036.” Bianchi: “More power to FSU and Clemson if they can somehow use the legal system to extricate themselves from the ACC’s grant of rights, but it sure sounds like they are reneging on a signed contract now that it’s gone bad” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/20).
THE IMPACT: On this week's Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, SBJ’s Austin Karp and Ben Portnoy discuss how Clemson's lawsuit compares to Florida State’s and what could be the fallout from these legal cases.
