It appears that the next domino in conference realignment is about to fall. The Florida State University Board of Trustees has called a virtual meeting for Friday at 10 a.m. ET.
The expectation is that the BOT will approve a legal filing in their bid to leave the ACC. It is public knowledge that leadership at the university has been very unhappy with the conference. Given how much revenue FSU generates, they believe they deserve a bigger piece of the pie. They aren’t the only ones as Clemson is another team unhappy with the ACC.
The exit from the ACC will be a costly one. In August, the Associated Press reported that the fee is roughly three times the annual revenue which equates to about $120 million. In the 2021-22 year, the conference paid out roughly $39 million per school.
Florida State President Rick McCullough called for action unless there is “radical change to revenue distribution.”
“We are not satisfied with our current situation,” the FSU president said. “We love the ACC and our partners at ESPN. Our goal would be to stay in the ACC, but staying in the ACC under the current situation is hard for us to figure out how to remain competitive unless there were a major change in the revenue distribution. That has not happened.”
When the Seminoles were left out of the College Football Playoff, this felt like the most likely solution in their minds. That was just another log thrown on the “let’s get out of the ACC” fire.
The ACC is set to welcome California, SMU, and Stanford to the conference in time for the 2024 season. Should FSU make a move from the ACC, we will likely see more action from Clemson, Miami, and North Carolina.