MEGA Conference Realignment and lawsuits Megathread: Stories, Tales, Lies, and Exaggerations

Advertisement
Inspired by @GojiraCane

'And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder,
One of the G5 saying,
'Come and see.' and I saw, and behold a big-time TV contract.'

There's two media giants goin' 'round takin' names
And they decide who gets killed and who gets paid.
Everybody won't be treated all the same.
There'll be a golden parachute for these clowns,
When the B1G comes around.

The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the money for each game and cash disbursed.
Will you partake of that fat offered purse.
Or disappear into the G5's ground?
When the B1G comes around.

… Hear the pundits, hear the hustlers
One hundred million dollars swingin'
Conferences are marchin' to the big cash cow.
Voices callin', voices cryin'
Fans are born and fans are dyin'
It's PAC-12 and ACC's kingdom come.
And the poison lies in the contracts,
The lawyers are all practicing their tricks.
The poison lies in the contracts,
It's hard for teams to win against these pricks.

Till playoff expansion, no shalam, no shalom,
Then the ACC ADs will call their teams' new home.
Tony Petitti will sit down at his throne
And at his feet the AD's cast their golden crowns,
When the B1G comes around.

Whatever teams don't draw let them be broke still,
Whatever teams win games let them win more still,
Whatever teams are paid let them be paid still.
Listen to the words long written down
When the B1G comes around.

… Hear the pundits, hear the hustlers
One hundred million dollars swingin'
Conferences are marchin' to the big cash cow.
Voices callin', voices cryin'
Fans are born and fans are dyin'
It's PAC-12 and ACC's kingdom come.
And the poison lies in the contracts,
The lawyers are all practicing their tricks.
The poison lies in the contracts,
It's hard for teams to win against these pricks.
With tens of millions in new revenue to be found,
When the B1G comes around.

… 'And I heard a voice in the midst of the network beasts
And I looked, and behold a long-term television Grant of Rights,
And the name that brought the Grant of Rights was ACC, and **** followed with it.'
👆Strong contender for Ernest Hemmingway Porst of Year
 
Last edited:
Good stuff, thanks.

Zero sources here, but I just have a feeling that Notre Dame — whether the Irish like it or not — is bound for the Big Ten.

The "one foot in, one foot out" approach to conference membership won't be on the table with either of the top two conferences


As to your final point, this is correct, which is why ND's "other sports" might end up with the Big East (at least for now).
 
As to your final point, this is correct, which is why ND's "other sports" might end up with the Big East (at least for now).

My guess is that neither the B1G nor SEC will accommodate ND's football scheduling needs** and ND will decide cobbling something together with the Big 12 to remain independent is a worse option than joining the B1G as an all-sports member.

(** I don't think the ACC as we know it is long for this world. The SEC, B1G and their junior partner the Big 12 want to have realignment in place for the 2026 season when the new playoff format and CFP media rights contract go live)
 
Advertisement


RFIuO4XWzU8gg.gif
 
I would also add that a potential DOWN side to the Composition Clause is that the ACC is offered more total money BUT LESS AVERAGE MONEY PER SCHOOL by adding Stanford/Cal/SMU.

Of course, that might be offset by playing MORE conference games. Of course, THAT would pretty much wipe out most OOC game opportunities.

So, after multiple dominoes go down...I wouldn't expect "three more teams" to result in a higher ANNUAL PAYOUT from Big Daddy ACC.
Agree totally ... but the question is ... IF all teams don't agree with a new media proposal does that give those programs grounds to leave the ACC with their media rights in tact?
 
Advertisement
Agree totally ... but the question is ... IF all teams don't agree with a new media proposal does that give those programs grounds to leave the ACC with their media rights in tact?


I do not believe that to be the case. Not because it doesn't make sense, but because the GOR has ALWAYS been poorly-drafted in terms of "exiting" (which bolsters my argument that the GOR has always been about "scaring" members into staying put, rather than being a mere vehicle for negotiating a conference-wide TV contract).

I also think we would have to look to the TV contract itself. One would think that "hey, if we now offer you LESS money" would lead to a gentlemen's agreement to leave if those terms are unsatisfactory.

Unfortunately, I do not have any confidence that the ACC and its leaders negotiated any sort of terms like that, nor do I think that ESPN would just gratuitously allow such an exit at this late date if such an event was not contemplated at the outset of the contract.
 
I do not believe that to be the case. Not because it doesn't make sense, but because the GOR has ALWAYS been poorly-drafted in terms of "exiting" (which bolsters my argument that the GOR has always been about "scaring" members into staying put, rather than being a mere vehicle for negotiating a conference-wide TV contract).

I also think we would have to look to the TV contract itself. One would think that "hey, if we now offer you LESS money" would lead to a gentlemen's agreement to leave if those terms are unsatisfactory.

Unfortunately, I do not have any confidence that the ACC and its leaders negotiated any sort of terms like that, nor do I think that ESPN would just gratuitously allow such an exit at this late date if such an event was not contemplated at the outset of the contract.
The conference, in every facet, is fundamentally poorly conceived and structured.
 
I look forward to every UM season, and will continue to do so, no matter what conference we’re in.

Tell me, specifically, about the behind the scenes activity that leads you to this conclusion.
B10 NEEDs a southern presence. They also NEED to at least get to 20-24 programs to have a fully national conference and to meet their actual broadcasting demand. The media partners want big football draws. The conference wants academically and culturally aligned schools, but that is much less important right now.

Currently Big10 is at 18 schools. They will at absolute bare minimum take 2 SouthEast schools. At max they’ll target maybe 4-6 more SouthEast schools - 4 if they leave a spot for like ND and Stanford..

Now how do the remaining Non P2 programs rank in terms of value? Even being pessimistic Miami would be the 5th best available program. That would be assuming ND, FSU, Clemson, and UNC rank above us. There is absolutely zero argument for any other program to be ahead of us.

So from there you basically have to assume the SEC does NOT expand AND the Big10 does NOT want to expand to 24 for you to say Miami will be left out of the P2.

Miami will eventually be in the P2 - particularly the Big10. And if Clemson or FSU chooses the SEC, it is a 100% certainty that we will be joining Big10 at earliest possible time.
 
Inspired by @GojiraCane

'And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder,
One of the G5 saying,
'Come and see.' and I saw, and behold a big-time TV contract.'

There's two media giants goin' 'round takin' names
And they decide who gets killed and who gets paid.
Everybody won't be treated all the same.
There'll be a golden parachute for these clowns,
When the B1G comes around.

The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the money for each game and cash disbursed.
Will you partake of that fat offered purse.
Or disappear into the G5's ground?
When the B1G comes around.

… Hear the pundits, hear the hustlers
One hundred million dollars swingin'
Conferences are marchin' to the big cash cow.
Voices callin', voices cryin'
Fans are born and fans are dyin'
It's PAC-12 and ACC's kingdom come.
And the poison lies in the contracts,
The lawyers are all practicing their tricks.
The poison lies in the contracts,
It's hard for teams to win against these pricks.

Till playoff expansion, no shalam, no shalom,
Then the ACC ADs will call their teams' new home.
Tony Petitti will sit down at his throne
And at his feet the AD's cast their golden crowns,
When the B1G comes around.

Whatever teams don't draw let them be broke still,
Whatever teams win games let them win more still,
Whatever teams are paid let them be paid still.
Listen to the words long written down
When the B1G comes around.

… Hear the pundits, hear the hustlers
One hundred million dollars swingin'
Conferences are marchin' to the big cash cow.
Voices callin', voices cryin'
Fans are born and fans are dyin'
It's PAC-12 and ACC's kingdom come.
And the poison lies in the contracts,
The lawyers are all practicing their tricks.
The poison lies in the contracts,
It's hard for teams to win against these pricks.
With tens of millions in new revenue to be found,
When the B1G comes around.

… 'And I heard a voice in the midst of the network beasts
And I looked, and behold a long-term television Grant of Rights,
And the name that brought the Grant of Rights was ACC, and **** followed with it.'
Congrats.

 
Advertisement
Advertisement

She has said in interviews that her dream job is NFL Commissioner (would be nice to make 50+ million per year to just do what NFL owners tell you). Obviously that job is taken, but if the cfb Superconference idea ever takes shape, being the Commish of the #2 most popular sport in the country wouldn't be a bad consolation prize. If she is able to negotiate Stanford /Cal into the acc, she'd certainly get a feather in her cap.
 
She has said in interviews that her dream job is NFL Commissioner (would be nice to make 50+ million per year to just do what NFL owners tell you). Obviously that job is taken, but if the cfb Superconference idea ever takes shape, being the Commish of the #2 most popular sport in the country wouldn't be a bad consolation prize. If she is able to negotiate Stanford /Cal into the acc, she'd certainly get a feather in her cap.
She meets a ton of criteria doesn't she....

hmmmmm
 
Advertisement
Back
Top