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

OrangeBowlMagic said:
How will it shake out then?

FSU will be in the Big 10 by 2026. Miami will still be in the ACC.

That. Is. Bad.
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Austin Powers Beyonce GIF by IFC
 
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OrangeBowlMagic said:
I’m taking a **** about to head to the Ritz for the weekend. I literally could not be more relaxed. But you’ve got a lot more faith than I do in the leadership at this university.

Long term, I’m with you. 2026? No.
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Good for you! Regular bowel movements are an important part of good health.

We might get there in 2027. I kind of suspect that's when the final adjustments will be negotiated to take place.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
How will it shake out then?

FSU will be in the Big 10 by 2026. Miami will still be in the ACC.

That. Is. Bad.
Click to expand...
I don't believe that a). FSU will be delayed until 2026 to join another conference ... I expect 2025 and b). By 2026 UM should be in another conference.

Right now it really is anybody's guess ... there is so much behind the scenes "****" going on that we could see any one of several scenarios playing out:

1. FSU & Clemson could announce their departure for the 2025 season ... before Cal/Stan/SMU join on July 1. THEN ESPN could immediately
enact the composition clause or just bail from the media agreement. Panic ensues, dialing for dollars takes place to find new homes and
we could see the SEC grab 2-4 schools, B10 grab 2, and the B12 grab a couple. Doubt this happens but it is a POSSIBILITY.

2. FSU & Clemson are "guided" to the SEC by ESPN for the 2025 season, the Big 10 responds by adding Miami and UNC for the 2026 seasons.
Exit fees are reduced from the "stated" figure because it is an arbitrary figure, and the GOR media "buyback" would just be for ONE
season as the current ESPN deal ends on June 30, 2027. This is the type resolution I would like to see.

The new ESPN CFP contract commences for the 2026 season. There could be seismic shifts in conference affiliation FOR that season. A lot more than just moving FSU and Clemson, who are both programs that are not as "high powered" as their fans are imagining. Let Miami win the ACC this year ... finally ... and the entire narrative changes 180 degrees quickly.
 
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Rickd said:
I don't believe that a). FSU will be delayed until 2026 to join another conference ... I expect 2025 and b). By 2026 UM should be in another conference.

Right now it really is anybody's guess ... there is so much behind the scenes "****" going on that we could see any one of several scenarios playing out:

1. FSU & Clemson could announce their departure for the 2025 season ... before Cal/Stan/SMU join on July 1. THEN ESPN could immediately
enact the composition clause or just bail from the media agreement. Panic ensues, dialing for dollars takes place to find new homes and
we could see the SEC grab 2-4 schools, B10 grab 2, and the B12 grab a couple. Doubt this happens but it is a POSSIBILITY.

2. FSU & Clemson are "guided" to the SEC by ESPN for the 2025 season, the Big 10 responds by adding Miami and UNC for the 2026 seasons.
Exit fees are reduced from the "stated" figure because it is an arbitrary figure, and the GOR media "buyback" would just be for ONE
season as the current ESPN deal ends on June 30, 2027. This is the type resolution I would like to see.

The new ESPN CFP contract commences for the 2026 season. There could be seismic shifts in conference affiliation FOR that season. A lot more than just moving FSU and Clemson, who are both programs that are not as "high powered" as their fans are imagining. Let Miami win the ACC this year ... finally ... and the entire narrative changes 180 degrees quickly.
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Once the first team leaves, the entire exit fee issue will be the subject of a new round of lawsuits.
 
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Empirical Cane said:
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Yeah.

This is what some people fail to take into account. They think that when someone asserts something (ESPN claiming that its contract is "trade secrets"), then this somehow "makes it so" and trumps every other form of legal analysis and argument.

The bottom line is this. Regardless of a company's view of its "trade secrets", if you choose to do business with a governmental agency in a state that has a form of the "Sunshine Law", you've got nobody else to blame but yourself if those "trade secrets" become public information.

A lot of posters like to take the first piece of information that implants itself into their brains (but but but, the GOR says it's irrevocable and it also says "for good and valid consideration") without contemplating that there are often OTHER issues that may come into play. This is why "the contract" is not some cut-and-dried thing (but but but, all the schools signed it and they've received millions of dollars) and all of the various, and sometimes conflicting, pieces of the puzzle need to be interpreted by a judge.

Yes, I agree, ESPN wanted to keep its contractual terms secret. Yes, I agree, contracts negotiated with Florida state-agencies are subject to public disclosure. But at the end of the day, you can't insert a contractual term that supercedes state law. This is NOT "but but but, ESPN and Florida have equally-strong arguments". Nope.

ESPN needs to figure out how to escape this disastrous mess. Step 1 should be to terminate the ACC contract and free all ACC schools from the GOR.
 
TheOriginalCane said:
"...But at the end of the day, you can't insert a contractual term that supercedes state law..."
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Said the same thing long time ago.

Many individuals and companies have learned incredibly painful and expensive lessons that the Sovereign [Municipal, State, or Federal] almost always has a clause in the fine print that says, "we're the Sovereign, and we said so...".

I'm being incredibly simplisitic with the point above but no terms of a contract supercede law and/or public policy. End of story.

Good luck fighting The Man.
 
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OrangeBowlMagic said:
I’m taking a **** about to head to the Ritz for the weekend. I literally could not be more relaxed. But you’ve got a lot more faith than I do in the leadership at this university.

Long term, I’m with you. 2026? No.
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Congratulations on your **** and enjoy the weekend.
 
Hold My Beer said:
What has ESPN done to this point to demonstrate it has the ACC's back in the two lawsuits?
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There isn't much reason for them to spend a dime in court. They will let the Acc and FSU fight it out, then when they realize that both sides are equally f*cked (whoever loses will appeal and it will take years and tens of millions in legal fees to get sorted), they will bring in espn to negotiate moving a couple teams to the SEC. Espn gives the ACC some kind of compensation for the loss.

My guess is the two teams moving to the SEC will be FSU and Clemson, but maybe we get a wonderful surprise and it's FSU and UM. Perhaps Rad has actually done something other than that preside over the worst period ever for UM sports. Maybe more acc teams go to the SEC, but I'm standing by my opinion that no acc team is going to the B1G anytime in the next 4-5 years because of the tv contracts.

Interestingly enough, the only conference without a GOR is the SEC (I might be mistaken but my understanding is the SEC is the only conference where teams are basically free to leave if they want, of course no teams would ever do that). It's almost impossible to kick out teams, so they couldn't boot Vandy or Mississippi State, but the teams could reform to make a new conference. I wonder if something like that could possibly happen in the future , the majority of the SEC votes to disband and reform as a new power conference with teams like UNC, NC St, Miami, FSU, UVA, and VT. They don't let in some former SEC schools like Vandy, and Mississippi State, or Missouri (maybe Those schools go to the Big 12) . Espn would then blow Fox Sports out of the water with the amount that gets offered the new power conference, which would be far better than the B1G in terms of competitiveness.
 
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