goes out the window. Not the conference it was when they signed.

of it. I'm not a lawyer nor am I an expert in agreements and contracts, but I'm sure there's a way out, especially for schools like Clemson and FSU who would be attractive to one of these P2 conferences. If they find a way to get out then the ACC will be in trouble.

I've followed conference realignment for decades and I'm still learning and appreciate this board a lot! When Missouri left the Big 12 for the SEC it was always my gut feeling they really wanted to be in the B1G, at least their fans did. The B1G had every opportunity to invite them but obviously never did. My pure guess is that Missouri was always complaining about the Big 12 and Texas in particular and the B1G may have feared Missouri would have eventually done the same thing to them and just felt they could do without them. I'm not saying they didn't have any right to complain, especially about Texas, but the B1G may have believed they went too far, too often. Again, just a guess.

time and grabbed it - one that they probably would not have today if they had waited. The 3 "luckiest" schools so far, in all of this, are Mizz, Neb, Ruts - I dont think they would be in the P2 conversations today if they were not already in. Again - I envy your school's leadership and hope that VT leadership learned some lessons..... ** Edited by 133193Hokie at 7/5/2022, 8:28:42 AM

brand and big enough market. And Mizzou wouldn't have gotten into the SEC unless A&M needed a partner. And another reason is Mizzou had no in-state ties holding them back. Where a school like Kansas, might not have been able to leave because of Kansas State. I think Mizzou preferred the B1G for several reasons. Nebraska was already there. AAU ties. Basketball. Football culture. And Missouri always struck me as more midwestern than southern.

really wanted in the B1G. Mizzou is still a more natural fit for the B1G. I too have been following and posting for decades on Conference Realignment, you have not posted much here, but I hope you do more. Do you follow a certain school more than others?

football.

LOL. This is lawyer heaven.

So Notre Dame, should they join another conference in football before 2036, would owe the ACC the amount of extra revenue that the ACC would have made from their media contracts had Notre Dame joined the ACC for football in the years between the time they leave and 2036. This effectively acts as a springing GoR clause for Notre Dame football. ** Edited by tarheelblue at 7/4/2022, 8:18:31 PM

They took the GOR to court and settled for 60 cents on the dollar of their exit fee. Contracts are worth the paper they are printed on when it goes to lawyers and courts.

And yes, Maryland and the ACC did agree to reduce the exit fee to the amount of money that had already been held back from Maryland after they announced their departure to avoid further litigation. But there was no Grant of Rights in place when Maryland left. That was only put in place shortly after Maryland decided to leave. No GoR has been tested in court yet, and it doesn't seem that anyone wants to test it. That's why Texas and Oklahoma said they weren't going to leave the Big 12 until after the Big 12 GoR expired. Same thing with USC and UCLA. They won't be leaving until after the Pac-12 GoR expires. I think the lawyers of all these schools know that the GoR is solid and if they try to challenge it in court they will lose. The ACC GoR runs until 2036, so ACC schools are probably locked up until then, as they will be nothing but a financial burden on any new conference accepting them as members until the GoR expires. And since expansion is all about money, the SEC and B1G aren't going to be adding schools that reduce the amount of money that their current conference members get. ** Edited by tarheelblue at 7/5/2022, 12:04:23 PM ** Edited by tarheelblue at 7/5/2022, 12:07:55 PM

So just because it happened in the past, doesn’t mean it will happen in the future.

or the amount they will make in another conference? how do you determine the amount they would make over 14 years when that can change, especially if there is an expanded playoff that includes the ACC. one thing people also do not seem to mention in all of this is the time/cost of the inevitable lawsuit.

When a party breaches a contract, then that party must make the other party whole. And how do you determine that amount? Both sides bring expert witnesses into court that have knowledge about how media contracts and revenue forecasts work to testify as to what this amount would be. And then it's up to the judge or jury to weigh what both sides' experts say and then decide what that amount would have been. Let's say that the jury decides that the ACC would have made an extra $50 million/year net over what ND's revenue share would have been. Then ND would be ordered to pay the ACC $50/year until 2036. And ND is a private school, so they don't have any kind of sovereign immunity protections that state schools might have. And ND has a big, fat endowment with billions of dollars in it that could be used to collect on the judgment. ** Edited by tarheelblue at 7/5/2022, 12:22:24 PM