Andrea Adelson@AaadelsonESPN 7h
I asked a league source about an ACC/Pac partnership last week. The response was essentially, sure, there will be discussions but where is the financial value? The finances were the question well before realignment, but now that is exacerbated. In reviewing expansion options
Andrea Adelson@aadelsonESPN 7h
last year, one source said the ACC "looked at everybody." Going coast to coast with Pac schools was not something the presidents wanted to do. The focus has been on ND (what else is new). Should that calculation on going West have been different now that the Big Ten got USC/UCLA?
Andrea Adelson@aadelsonESPN 7h
Hard to say given how far ahead: 1) the Big Ten is $$ 2) its TV contract is up for renegotiation 3) How much interest USC/UCLA would have had in the ACC had the league put on the full-court press. The question now is what happens moving forward.
Andrea Adelson@aadelsonESPN 7h
Is anyone naive to think conversations are not happening outside ACC conference calls? Of course not. But the ACC believes it has what it needs to keep things together with its grant of rights. To underscore that point: Current withdrawal fee would stand at $120 million.
Andrea Adelson@aadelsonESPN 7h
That part could be litigated. The grant of rights is where things get challenging. Any departing school would have to pay the withdrawal fee, plus forfeit its media rights and the ability to have home games and some nonconference games air on TV. In all sports. Through 2036.
Andrea Adelson@aadelsonESPN 7h
Words used to describe the GoR to me in the last week include "rigid" "really good legal document" and the possibility of going to court to get out of it "a legal battle of all time."
Andrea Adelson@aadelsonESPN 7h
That doesn't mean it
won't go unchallenged. At some point, someone will do it. But it will move slowly through the courts, requiring time and money without having any real idea about whether the case is winnable. There is a reason nobody has gone to court yet.
Andrea Adelson@aadelsonESPN 7h
None of this answers long-term questions about stability and survivability if there is no real way to keep up with the Big Ten/SEC financially + there are schools itching to leave to save themselves.
Andrea Adelson@aadelsonESPN 7h
That is why there are some schools that are rightfully nervous and worried about what all this looks like whenever we get to the end point of wherever this is headed. Nobody knows where that is or when we get there, but hopefully this explains the unique situation in the ACC.