Florida State to "consider very seriously leaving the ACC."
Realignment is the new reality of college football. As some conferences consolidate wealth, others are left trying to hold on to what they have. A couple of years ago, folks in the college football world would've smirked at the idea of some Power 5 Conferences poaching teams from their cohorts, now it seems like an inevitability.
The latest powderkegs reside on opposite coasts (gulfs included). Washington and Oregon are the most attractive teams remaining in the Pac-12 following USC and UCLA's departures to the Big Ten and Colorado's reported jump to the Big 12. On the East Coast, the ACC is now apparently fighting to keep its teams, but it faces a stiff battle. Like the Pac-12, the ACC has a money problem. The Pac-12 currently doesn't have a television deal, the ACC on the other hand is locked into a grant of rights deal until 2036 that will leave them seriously lagging behind the SEC and Big Ten.
(Florida State Athletics)
FSU President Richard McCullough addressed the issue during a Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday afternoon in Tallahassee.
"We currently as you all know face a very difficult situation. We are seeing large media deals that have been made with places like the Big Ten and the SEC which, in many ways, are creating an existential crisis for Florida State University as we will be $30 million per school per year behind in our gap in conference distribution with contracts that are set to go through 2036," McCullough said.
"Without increasing revenue, we will raise major challenges to compete in football, NIL, coaching salaries, and attractive facilities to continue building our brand and be competitive. Our Title IX could be completely affected in a very dramatic way." He'd add later "I believe FSU will have to at some point consider very seriously leaving the ACC unless there were a radical change to the revenue distribution." Read his full statement here.
On top of that, McCullough told ESPN "I'm not that optimistic that we'll be able to stay," in a separate interview. The Seminoles would need to pay $120 million dollars to leave the ACC and would face a tough court battle to break the grant of rights deal. Either way, if Florida State does make the jump, things could dissolve rapidly in the conference as other schools would undoubtedly use FSU's exit as a catalyst to break their own deals. Simply, if Florida State leaves, Clemson probably won't be far behind.
