Monday, a settlement between FSU, Clemson, and the ACC appears just around the corner. It would ensure the stability of the ACC for at least more 5 years.
Stability in the ACC is near: FSU, Clemson & the ACC will vote Tuesday on a proposed settlement of lawsuits & a new rev distribution model (from me, @aadelsonESPN & @PeteThamel) https://t.co/WyNTxyUec6
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(@ADavidHaleJoint) March 3, 2025
Before we get into the merits of the deal, good or bad, the lawsuits etc, and we will get into that as more details are released in the future. I have a bone to pick with all these realignment ‘experts’. We’ve tried on this blog for years to provide reasoned observations on the ACC, as an outlet to the Twitter/X nonsense.
Going back to the late 2000s and in earnest in the 2010-2011 timeframe, the ACC demise was predicted to be just around the corner. These accounts don’t deserve mention, but you know who most of them are.
The ACC was dead after the Pac 12/Big 10 and SEC/Big 12 agreed to the Rose and Sugar Bowls, and the ACC was left with the Orange Bowl. The misunderstood 3rd tier rights, that was going to kill the ACC. Some suggested the Big East was going to absorb the ACC. Then they didn’t have the GOR, that would end the ACC. The ACC didn’t have a Network, that would be the nail in the coffin. The lawsuits from Clemson and FSU, that would be it. They would be out by 2025. Now 2030 is the new deadline.
Nobody moves the goalposts more than these many of these misinformed realignment accounts.
We are now moving towards at least 20 years of the ACC being predicted to die.
Do not mistake frustration with those who have no insight into the league, with where the league actually is.
A serious financial gap does exist between the ACC and the SEC/Big 10. That hasn’t gone away. This settlement is not a cure-all, and does not ensure stability beyond 5 years. The best way to describe the current situation is as I said on X.
Not sure the settlements buy the acc really more than 5 more years, but it bought the acc at least 5 more years is the best way to look at it.
— Jeff or Jeffrey Fann (@TalkinACCSports) March 3, 2025
Who knows what the landscape will look like then? Maybe the uneven revenue distribution that the Big 12 tried in the early 2010s was ahead of its time. Maybe, Alabama and Georgia will eventually wonder why Vanderbilt and Mississippi State are making the same. Ohio State and Michigan are looking in Rutgers and Minnesota direction.
Jim Phillips and the ACC bought some time.
Celebrate the lawsuits being dropped for 24 hours, and get back to work getting those revenues up.
