decides to kick them out since they are a bad conference brother.

will be in effect past 2027, and thus there is no guaranteed payments from ESPN to the conference beyond June 30, 2027. If ESPN decides not to exercise their unilateral option of a 9 year extension then the ACC could be toast. It is my understanding that a decision must be made by February 2025. After watching the PAC-12 try to secure a media rights deal in this environment for over a year without success, it is not a given that if ESPN drops the ACC that another acceptable media partner would even come forth. I believe that there is a lot going on behind the scene out of the public’s view (Mag7 on steroids) preparing for the “what if” scenario surrounding the ESPN contract. Waiting to explore options until after February of next year would be a huge mistake for any school IMO. FSU is simply doing their due diligence.

1) the ACC is screwed because they can't renegotiate their TV deal until 2036 2) the ACC is screwed because they have to renegotiate a TV deal in 2027 and I'll add that based on the behavior of VT's admin, there may be credence to ESPN pulling the plug and ending the GOR. If so, I don't think the lawsuit gets FSU anything except reduced influence between now and then, and probably the privilege of paying a bunch of legal fees and perhaps more. ** Edited by daveinop at 1/21/2024, 6:25: ** Edited by daveinop at 1/21/2024, 6:33:56 PM ** Edited by daveinop at 1/21/2024, 6:36:33 PM

that directive is coming from the top down. when Pry came in, it was preaching patience to rebuild the program from the bottom up; basically Beamer 2.0. now the standard is, "can this guy help us get to the conference championship game next year?". they feel VT needs to be relevant in football in the next couple of years to best position itself for changes they see as imminent

Other than Clemson, how many schools are still committed to the 1994 recruiting philosophy of "Aw shucks, we're gonna recruit our kids, and stick with them for 4-5 years. Next man up!" And who knows, so much has changed in the last 24 months. When Pry was hired, maybe the plan really was a "slow build" approach. But hey, plans change.

They are not operating from a position of strength, and they know it.

stand to get richer if the pie gets bigger. results/harmony be damned, increasing the pie AND getting bigger slices of it seems to be driving everything.