Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)

[exCyDing]

Why would a school *publicly announce a departure before disbanding their current conference? Lots of legal tangling I'm sure.

Clearly you haven't thought this through. The schools are required to notify the conference if they have a conflict of interest before the vote. Failing to disclose the conflict of interest would open them up to a massive lawsuit from the left behind schools.

Do you think the left behind schools might be slightly suspicious of the schools voting to disband? Do you think 8 or 9 schools, 2 networks and 3 conferences would be able to come to an agreement of this size without anything that might come out in discovery? Because the left behind schools are 100% going to file a suit immediately. A lot of people on all sides have to sign off before this kind of decision gets made. Do you think they'd all be willing to purger themselves?

Dissolving the conference only makes sense because buying out the GOR doesn't make any sense for another 5-10 years. Do you think adding massive legal fees for 15 schools, 2+ networks and 3+ conferences is going to make it more or less expensive to get out? What about when you add in punitive damages?

 

[Gorm]

Clearly you haven't thought this through. The schools are required to notify the conference if they have a conflict of interest before the vote. Failing to disclose the conflict of interest would open them up to a massive lawsuit from the left behind schools.

So behind the scenes deals don't take place? We all know they will and do happen. Proving it in court would be a challenge if the talks were done correctly.

Do you think the left behind schools might be slightly suspicious of the schools voting to disband? Do you think 8 or 9 schools, 2 networks and 3 conferences would be able to come to an agreement of this size without anything that might come out in discovery? Because the left behind schools are 100% going to file a suit immediately. A lot of people on all sides have to sign off before this kind of decision gets made. Do you think they'd all be willing to purger themselves?

Any accusation without proof is a conspiracy theory. Though I would agree, it would be tough to keep that level of collusion under wraps.

 

[cytor]

Didn't realize Minny was over 40.

Minnesota is usually over 50k in enrollment.... Includes all the part time students, which they have a lot of.

 

[isucy86]

Schools that line up a new conference would lose their vote on the matter to disband. Unless all 14 schools plus ND are going to the B10 or SEC, this is less likely to happen than the ACC extending their current deal for another 20 years.

With the Big10 & SEC media rights deals not expiring until 2030 or later, there is no urgency for the ACC schools to make dissolution happen. Sure schools like FSU, Clemson want it to happen ASAP, but they don't have an impending deadline imposed on them like USC & UCLA with the Big10.

I feel Clemson, FSU and other ACC school's process is opposite what OU, UT, USC and UCLA did. They will break their conference relationship first and then find a new conference. A "build it and they will come" approach. If FSU, Clemson, UNC, etc are free agents the Big10 and SEC will be there to recruit them to their conference.

The below is from Ross Dellenger's article today:

A subset of seven schools in the 14-member conference has coalesced over what many of them describe as an untenable situation. Officials from the seven schools, led by Florida State and Clemson, have met a handful of times over the past several months, with their lawyers examining the grant-of-rights to determine just how unbreakable it is.

Dellenger Article

It sounds like the group is bigger than just the handful we traditionally hear mentioned (FSU, Clemson, UNC, Miami) and it doesn't sound like they are acting in isolation.

If the group is that big, that's probably not meaningful in breaking the GOR. But it could be meaningful in getting unequal revenue sharing of the 12 team CFP money the conference receives. Those monies can't completely narrow the gap, but if a playoff team gets an extra $15-$20M, that would narrow the gap significantly.

Lastly, I feel like people are falling into the money narrative trap: "Having the most money guarantees winning". While more money definitely make running an Athletic Department earsier, we see examples in sport everyday where lower revenue teams have high-level success. Iowa State won the CyHawk this year and our athletic department revenue is 2/3's of the Hawks. How many times have the Texas Longhorns made the CFP? Cincinnati Bearcats made the 4 team playoff. Even at the professional level teams like Oakland, Tampa, Milwaukee have had equal or higher success as mega-money teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets and Red Sox.

 

[exCyDing]

So behind the scenes deals don't take place? We all know they will and do happen. Proving it in court would be a challenge if the talks were done correctly.


Any accusation without proof is a conspiracy theory. Though I would agree, it would be tough to keep that level of collusion under wraps.

Nobody's going to risk their job, career, or purger themselves to keep it quite. There's no way a state university's board gives the greenlight to vote to disband without knowing where they'll land. There's a 0% chance they give the green light knowing their legal department is throwing a fit about opening the school up to a massive lawsuit. There's a 0% chance someone from a state legislature doesn't seize the opportunity to grandstand and look into the matter.

There's a 0% chance this stays under wraps, which is why everyone would run away screaming if they were approached about it.

 

[Gorm]

Nobody's going to risk their job, career, or purger themselves to keep it quite. There's no way a state university's board gives the greenlight to vote to disband without knowing where they'll land. There's a 0% chance they give the green light knowing their legal department is throwing a fit about opening the school up to a massive lawsuit. There's a 0% chance someone from a state legislature doesn't seize the opportunity to grandstand and look into the matter.

When 10s and potentially 100s of millions are at stake, its not safe to bet on what may or what may not happen.

 

[exCyDing]

When 10s and potentially 100s of millions are at stake, its not safe to bet on what may or what may not happen.

It's fantastical thinking.

 

[Gorm]

It's fantastical thinking.

Common sense and hindsight go out the window with enough money.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Common sense and hindsight go out the window with enough money.

Here we are 15 years in to the realignment saga: ISU still in the P5, OU and Texas in the SEC, USC and UCLA in the Big 10, and the PAC-12 imploding. Tell me how common sense is the best way to look at this situation going forward lol.

 

[JHUNSY]

 

[Gorm]

 

[FerShizzle]

That alliance sure worked out well for the PAC and ACC.

 

[Gonzo]

Here we are 15 years in to the realignment saga: ISU still in the P5, OU and Texas in the SEC, USC and UCLA in the Big 10, and the PAC-12 imploding. Tell me how common sense is the best way to look at this situation going forward lol.

It's closer to 20 years since the madness started. Ironically it was the ACC that ushered in the era of conference realignment by raiding the Big East. Karma's a b*tch?

 

[legi]

The Magnificent 7? Lol who comes up with this stupid ****?

 

[Gorm]

The Magnificent 7? Lol who comes up with this stupid ****?

 

[RonBurgundy]

That alliance sure worked out well for the PAC and ACC.

Yep, I expect UVA and UNC to stab the others in the back with a B1G invite any day now.

 

[2speedy1]

SI has a current state summary article. All the P5 conferences.

What this says....many need to take note.

$120 million exit fee......separate from the grant of rights.

So even if they pay the Exit fee, they still are locked into the GOR and the ACC will still own their Media income until the end of the the GOR. That is hundreds of Millions of dollars.

Many on here either think its just the $120M or that the GoR is easily broken. This is another article that puts both those thoughts to bed. Leaving the ACC at this point is extremely costly and/or difficult, if not nearly impossible.

Sure anyone can file a lawsuit, but whether that lawsuit has any merritt and not just be dismissed is another thing. Many on here have no idea what a contract is. Trying to sue the ACC to get out of the GoR is like buying a blue car and driving it for 5 years then suing the dealer to take it back because you no longer like blue.

"2. Secede from the league. Some of the schools, possibly the most frustrated lot such as FSU and Clemson, could pay the $120 million exit fee and hope they can break a grant-of-rights agreement that most attorneys—though maybe not their own—say is airtight. That then leaves a very big question: Where do they go? The SEC and Big Ten seem quite comfortable with their current membership, but potential western realignment could trigger them to expand more."

 

[FerShizzle]

The Magnificent 7? Lol who comes up with this stupid ****?

Why are they ‘magnificent’ and we were ‘Hateful’

 

[2speedy1]

Why would a school *publicly announce a departure before disbanding their current conference? Lots of legal tangling I'm sure.

Voting to disband then jumping would be met with lawsuits and probably voiding the previous vote, by those voting against it.

That would be met with deep investigations, and collusion charges. No way anyone votes to disband without a negotiated place to go, and no way they can legally have a vote like this while keeping their plan secret.

Very good chance they will be held to negotiating in bad faith and any chance to kill the GoR will then be impossible, and the schools left behind will get their media money for the rest of the GoR.
No one is going to do that with so much risk. It would need to be done on the up and up, otherwise at this point there is just too much risk.

 

[2speedy1]

When 10s and potentially 100s of millions are at stake, its not safe to bet on what may or what may not happen.

Bingo.. you just proved yourself wrong, they could lose out by staying in the ACC, but they could lose a huge amount more by trying to lie their way out.

Because if they lose the multiple lawsuits that will come their way if they deceive the conference in leaving/disbanding, it will cost them 100s of Millions, not just in penalties but also still lose their media income for 10+ years to the schools remaining. So all the income from the SEC or B1G would go to those schools left.. that is just too much of a risk. No one is going to risk that, especially if it all depends on lying and deceiving their peers, and hoping that info doesnt make it into discovery.