Maryland lawsuit and more from "The Dude"

[nelsonmuntz]

Someone in our Athletic Department received a phone call today.

"This is Warde Manuel. I will be out of the office until December 2nd, and will not have access to voicemail during this time. Please leave a message at the tone and I will get back to you when I return."

 

[DoctorBombay]

Smarter folks than us wrote the language for that exit fee- and the ACC people seem very confident that its rock solid.
That $50 million is the last linchpin for keeping FSU & others from leaving and Swofford will fight for years if necessary, to make sure its enforced.
Here in Charlotte, they're saying to let MD walk w/out payment in full would be the deathknell for the conference- and you can bet EVERY other league is watching this play out. Its sink or swim for the ACC & they won't let it go...they have no other choice.

 

[caw]

Smarter folks than me wrote the language for that exit fee- and the ACC people seem very confident that its rock solid.
That $50 million is the last linchpin for keeping FSU & others from leaving and Swofford will fight for years if necessary, to make sure its enforced.
Here in Charlotte, they're saying to let MD walk w/out payment in full would be the deathknell for the conference- and you can bet EVERY other league is watching this play out. Its sink or swim for the ACC & they won't let it go...they have no other choice.

First, I fixed your post.

Second, Maryland seems confident they can get out for less and it has a case.

Third, I agree the ACC will fight for it for as long as they can because it is a death-knell.

Honestly, no one knows how this will play out, but I doubt it takes years.

 

[Vuce]

Smarter folks than us wrote the language for that exit fee- and the ACC people seem very confident that its rock solid.
That $50 million is the last linchpin for keeping FSU & others from leaving and Swofford will fight for years if necessary, to make sure its enforced.
Here in Charlotte, they're saying to let MD walk w/out payment in full would be the deathknell for the conference- and you can bet EVERY other league is watching this play out. Its sink or swim for the ACC & they won't let it go...they have no other choice.

50 million or not, if there are other schools chomping at the bit to get out, the ACC won't last.

 

[DoctorBombay]

50 million or not, if there are other schools chomping at the bit to get out, the ACC won't last.

Yeah, but its not just ACC schools. Some FSU mucky-muck described it as "almost like free agency", should the fee not be upheld.
If the SEC moves in to take a couple from the ACC, that'll likely force the PAC to poach the Big 12, read; Texas, and that'll bring about the end game.
The misconception is that the ACC will "die", but what's more likely is that it'll be severely weakened but still have that good contract.
ESPN won't let the ACC die & lose their entire investment...but, what do I know?

 

[businesslawyer]

50 million or not, if there are other schools chomping at the bit to get out, the ACC won't last.

That's the more important point. Arguing about the enforceability and amount of the exit fee only happens when people want out, and if they want out they will get out.

 

[businesslawyer]

Yeah, but its not just ACC schools. Some FSU mucky-muck described it as "almost like free agency", should the fee not be upheld.
If the SEC moves in to take a couple from the ACC, that'll likely force the PAC to poach the Big 12, read; Texas, and that'll bring about the end game.
The misconception is that the ACC will "die", but what's more likely is that it'll be severely weakened but still have that good contract.
ESPN won't let the ACC die & lose their entire investment...but, what do I know?

LMAO. "Poach" Texas? Texas knows it can join the Pac within ten minutes of making the phone call. Or, for that matter, could join the Big or SEC. Exactly how to you want the Pac to "poach" Texas, whether it is "forced" to do so or not?

 

[tzznandrew]

Yeah, but its not just ACC schools. Some FSU mucky-muck described it as "almost like free agency", should the fee not be upheld.
If the SEC moves in to take a couple from the ACC, that'll likely force the PAC to poach the Big 12, read; Texas, and that'll bring about the end game.
The misconception is that the ACC will "die", but what's more likely is that it'll be severely weakened but still have that good contract.
ESPN won't let the ACC die & lose their entire investment...but, what do I know?

The ACC will not die, and it will always be better than the current BE horror-show.

 

[caw]

LMAO. "Poach" Texas? Texas knows it can join the Pac within ten minutes of making the phone call. Or, for that matter, could join the Big or SEC. Exactly how to you want the Pac to "poach" Texas, whether it is "forced" to do so or not?

Big 12 has power because it has ceded most of it to Texas. If Texas chooses to leave they will end the Big 12, but that is about as likely as ND saving the ACC, IMO.

Football rules the land, Big 12 football is better than the ACC's which was better than the BE. We all just saw what happened to BE football. The ACC (or any school that may be left out of the free agency) better hope the 50 million holds up so they at least get paid when folks run for the doors.

 

[DoctorBombay]

LMAO. "Poach" Texas? Texas knows it can join the Pac within ten minutes of making the phone call. Or, for that matter, could join the Big or SEC. Exactly how to you want the Pac to "poach" Texas, whether it is "forced" to do so or not?

Ummm..."poach" as in "accept the LHN in some way, shape, or form- thereby clearing the way for Texas to come in".
God....I hate lawyers!

 

[freescooter]

Smarter folks than us wrote the language for that exit fee- and the ACC people seem very confident that its rock solid.
That $50 million is the last linchpin for keeping FSU & others from leaving and Swofford will fight for years if necessary, to make sure its enforced.
Here in Charlotte, they're saying to let MD walk w/out payment in full would be the deathknell for the conference- and you can bet EVERY other league is watching this play out. Its sink or swim for the ACC & they won't let it go...they have no other choice.

There will be an out of court settlement on this ultimately. For the very reason the ACC and everyone else wants it upheld, the ACC doesn't want it litigated...If they lose it is katy-bar-the-door. And if they win, Maryland is still gone and it won't stop the next school either. Remember, Maryland recoups this in 2 Big payments based on the projected payout. Not really, I suppose given that they don't get full shares for a few years, but from a financing point of view, this would be easy. So here's the way this goes... Maryland will agree that the exit fee is enforceable but the ACC will agree to "waive" a certain amount of it, and they'll possibly pretend to take the balance in 4 games between Maryland and Virginia and North Carolina State or some such thing. This of course will take several months,and cost several hundred thousand dollars in legal fees, but that's how it will play out.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

BE thought they could hold WVU to 2.5 years too before leaving for the B12. I am sure BE got good lawyers too. Just saying....

 

[caw]

BE thought they could hold WVU to 2.5 years too before leaving for the B12. I am sure BE got good lawyers too. Just saying....

Not sure if serious...

 

[mattp]

If(big if) the Big Ten is seriously exploring BC and I continue to question this guy as anything more than a hypothesizer who likes to hear himself on twitter, then the only rationale I see is two fold - further market extension and yet another chess move to lure in ND. While not AAU, BC would seem to fit Big Ten culture fairly well and give ND is the Catholic sister school rivalry. This is the chess game within the chess game and ND will continue to be the golden goose that Delany chases. .

how can you say BC would be a good fit into B1G culture? They're basically antithetical. Big land grant public universities versus a culture that thinks only the unwashed masses would have any interest in a public school. BC might be a carrot to lure ND, and it may work, but they're a much much worse cultural fit with B1G than they are with the ACC, which says a lot.

 

[freescooter]

BE thought they could hold WVU to 2.5 years too before leaving for the B12. I am sure BE got good lawyers too. Just saying....

did you read the settlement? West Virginia agreed that the 27 month requirement was enforceable but the BE agreed to waive it in exchange for an additional payment. I believe that Syracuse and Pitt, and probably Notre Dame have the same or very similar terms.