Frank the Tank has a very good post on ways the ACC can work to appease/keep FSU (and Clemson) in the fold. Some are simple fixes like the schedule issues and making sure to engage the faculties/academic side at both schools. The ND tie-in to the Orange Bowl also makes sense, and I’ve heard mentioned elsewhere. The divisional realignment to North-South (and designating Miami as “north”) makes a lot of sense, though, I suspect VT would be leading the fight against it as there is a reduced access to Georgia and the Carolinas for the North schools as a result. The ESPN part would be very important for the overall integrity of the conference, and would also reduce the risk of other schools running for lifeboats if there is a raid from the Big 12.
This is pretty simple: agree with ESPN that even if Florida State and Clemson leave, ESPN won’t reduce the value of the recently signed ACC TV contract (which averages a bit over $17 million per school per year). There’s pretty clear precedent for this scenario with ESPN agreeing to do the same with the Big 12 in 2010 and then coming to an understanding with the Big 12 again in 2011 to have a new contract extension. As I’ve noted in a previous post, the ACC is actually the single largest content provider to ESPN of any sports entity (whether college or pro), so there’s even less incentive for ESPN to see the ACC break apart compared to the Big 12 (with whom ESPN has a much more limited package) the last couple of years. Contrary to what many fans seem to believe, ESPN has a significant interest in not seeing the formation of superconferences because they do not want to deal with concentrated power entities that have NFL-type negotiating leverage. Dispersal of power is how ESPN is able to keep college sports rights fees somewhat in check. (To put rights fees in perspective, the Big Ten, which is the wealthiest conference, currently receives about $100 million per year from ESPN/ABC for first tier rights. By comparison, ESPN pays over $100 million per game to the NFL for Monday Night Football.)
The irony of this scenario is that would kick in over $2 million in TV money per year extra to each of the remaining 12 ACC schools, which would raise their total annual per school payouts to close to the $20 million level that the Big 12 is reportedly negotiating with ESPN and Fox. So, Florida State and Clemson could end up leaving for more TV money in the Big 12, which would actually result in an increase in TV money for the rest of the ACC that would match what the Big 12 schools receive. That would certainly be enough to take TV rights fees off the table as an issue for the remaining ACC members.
On the matter of the divisional changes, the opposition would be strongest from Virginia Tech and probably Maryland. VT loves the recruiting inroads it has made to the south and Maryland likely would not like to be further isolated from its original member schools. From a Pitt side of things, a shift would be fine. Having Maryland as an annual football game simply makes the most sense. Maryland will be the school closest to Pitt in the ACC and the ACC is setting things up for a Pitt-Maryland basketball rivalry. They just aren’t doing it from a football side as well.
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