you may not be considering the entire accounting picture. Yes, ESPN would end up paying more for Clemson and FSU. However, that increase could still be less than the amount of decrease in pay to the ACC (assuming the ACC remains in tact in some form). Example Purposes Only Amount of Pay Increase in Pay to Clemson & FSU in the SEC = +$25M Amount of Reduction in Pay to the ACC = -$35M Net Result = +$10M I would think that ESPN's and probably Disney's accountants have been busy crunching then numbers behind the scenes for a variety of scenarios to see which scenario would be (or could be) the most profitable to them. There may even be a scenario out there where ESPN would be more profitable to allow Clemson and FSU to go to the Big Ten because the reduction in pay to the ACC would be more than what it would cost to keep Clemson and FSU in the ACC until sometime in 2030s (assuming schools decide to leave before the current GOR expires on June 30, 2036).