By Rock Westfall
Florida State is suing to get out of the ACC TV contract that it willingly signed in 2016.
ESPN and John Swofford Set FSU’s Trap in 2016
In 2016, two parties could see the future and that it would not work. Hence, ESPN and then-ACC commissioner John Swofford inked a TV deal that included the formation of the ACC Network and guaranteed stability for 20 years.
Swofford’s league was hanging by a thread. There was plenty of scuttlebutt regarding the potential loss of ACC powers, such as Clemson and Florida State in football and Duke with North Carolina in basketball to other leagues. Swofford could read the room and had the vision to get his league handcuffs.
Swofford had already lost Maryland, a reputedly good basketball school with football potential, to the riches of the Big Ten. Thus, he wanted to create a maximum security prison for the institutions remaining in his league. And damned if he didn’t pull it off!
ESPN wanted the maximum amount of live content for its networks at the lowest possible cost. Especially after breaking the bank to get SEC broadcast rights . By inking the deal, ACC schools willingly volunteered to lock themselves into a seemingly iron-clad agreement through the 2035-36 season.
At that time, there was plenty of first-take praise. But those willing to make the small effort of a deeper dive could immediately see the stupidity of such a deal. College sports are like politics in that a week can be an eternity. And to have an inflexible deal running almost 20 years compared to power conferences such as the SEC and Big Ten was utterly foolish.
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The SEC, Big Ten, and even the Big 12 have taken advantage of previously shorter deals to ink even bigger and better contracts in the upcoming years. By doing so, their schools are blowing the ACC into the dust with revenue. The ACC is finding that it can no longer effectively compete at the same level and will be at least $30 million per school short of the SEC and Big Ten institutions in 2024.
How could the leaders who signed on for this contract not have the foresight to see how horrible it was for the long term? A blind squirrel could have easily found this nut. But ACC schools did not. They were visionless, gutless cowards. And that is on them.
Is There Law? What is the Point of a Contract?
There have been and are plenty of ridiculous contracts and terrible deals in America. The New York Mets and Bobby Bonilla come to mind. Bonilla has not played baseball since 2001. But he gets paid almost $1.2 million per year until 2035 because the Mets got sucked in by superfan and investment fraudster Bernie Madoff. Madoff told his favorite team that his investment advice would keep the Mets far ahead of the curve on Bonilla payments. The Mets were stupid enough to agree and are paying for 12 more years. To the ball club’s credit, they never sued to get out of the moronic contract that they enthusiastically agreed to.
One of the worst financial investments millions of Americans make is an 84-month car loan. Yet they do it every day. During those seven years, the car depreciates and loses its reliability as much better cars are developed and produced. But for the customer who was desperate enough to take an 84-month car note, there is no way out. The consumer can’t sue to escape a terrible contract that offers no value. That is because the consumer agreed to the contract.
Regarding sports TV deals, the National Hockey League left ESPN for a few more dollars at an entity called Sportschannel in the summer of 1988. A few weeks later, the Los Angeles Kings acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers, potentially changing the game’s footprint. However, hardly anyone in the United States got to see the Great One on TV because of the terrible Sportschannel limitations in its viewership map.
The deal proved penny-wise and pound-foolish. A golden opportunity was blown forever. It was not until 1992 that the NHL was able to get back on ESPN. Yet the league made the same mistake in 2005, taking marginally more money for less exposure on the Outdoor Life Network.
Still, in both cases, the NHL sucked it up and lived through their self-inflicted wounds to fight another day. There was never a thought of a court challenge to a contract that the league willingly agreed to sign. They finally got good contracts on ESPN and TNT in 2022. But the irreparable damage was done.
2034-2035 will be the passing of the deferred money king’s torch from Bobby Bonilla to Shohei Ohtani 👑 pic.twitter.com/Cp6eMrSLiV
— Jason Hanna (@JasonHannaphoto) December 16, 2023
Florida State Hung Itself
Florida State is one of the top college football brands in America. At the time of the ACC deal, FSU was a hot property that won the 2013 national championship and made the 2014 College Football Playoff. For a program that has always had a high opinion of itself, that was the perfect time to escape an ACC that was already falling behind other conferences in football quality.
Instead, Florida State took the safe and secure route. It agreed to the ludicrous contract that is now imprisoning the school. The Seminoles went 13-0 and won the ACC championship this year but failed to gain a CFP spot. FSU leadership blames the ACC for not getting an invite. And there is truth in that accusation. But Florida State took the security and the fewer dollars to stay in the ACC. That was the school’s decision. Despite publicly beating its chest, FSU lacked the self-confidence to bolt. Its faux brass was squish.
https://twitter.com/CollegeSportsO/status/1738243076613660906
The Iron Clad ACC Contract
If the current ACC contract were easy to get out of, somebody would have likely done it. There has not been a reputable member of the legal profession that has found a loophole. By all accounts, the contract was brilliantly written to prevent anyone from leaving. Yet Florida State is about to try, based on its charge of incompetence by the league.
An important part of FSU's lawsuit regarding the ACC's TV deal with ESPN. pic.twitter.com/ED2Juk7NMo
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 22, 2023
It’s not the Law, It’s the Judge
Sadly, it has often been said that the law is not as important as the judge. The United States of America has an ideal that laws supersede men. Of course, America has not always lived up to that utopian dream. But if it no longer tries, what does it become? We are about to find out, and the repercussions could be devastating.
NEW: Turns out the ACC filed a lawsuit against the FSU board of trustees yesterday.
Complaint claims FSU is not allowed to challenge the grant of rights and that it should be determined in North Carolina.
Believe @AlisonPosey14 first reported. pic.twitter.com/LdrIqBeh04
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) December 22, 2023
What if Florida State Wins?
If Florida State wins this lawsuit, the decision will go a long way to making almost any contract worthless. Down the line, that will affect other leagues, including the powerful Big Ten and SEC. Things are great in the Big Two now, but that can quickly change. With talk of a 32 or 64-team super league, a Florida State win in court could turn college football into permanent chaos.
The ramifications could extend to every aspect of life. Perhaps even those dreaded 84-month car loans. “Contracts” could become whims. Mortgages, pensions, annuities, insurance, health care, credit, investments, and anything you can think of could become non-binding. Can anyone say “anarchy?”
For the increasing millions of Americans who believe that there is no law, they have a chance for further vindication. As do those who believe a handshake is more valuable than a contract.
Not only does Florida State deserve zero sympathy for the decision that it made in 2016, it does not deserve to win.
The ACC is indeed a sinking ship and a substandard football conference with the worst TV deal in the Power Four. But it is also true that anyone with a brain could see this coming in 2016. A contract is a contract. Nobody forced Florida State to sign the deal. They willfully did it on their own accord.
