Report: Florida State has not scheduled board meeting ahead of Tuesday deadline to notify ACC of intention to leave

Florida State appears likely to remain in the ACC at least through the 2024 season. According to Action Network‘s Brett McMurphy, the Seminoles have not scheduled a Board of Regents meeting for Tuesday, which is the deadline for teams to notify the ACC of their intention to leave before 2024.

Schools must schedule a Board of Regents meeting at least 24 hours in advance, so the chance of FSU scrambling to put together a last-minute meeting is slim. The board must approve any membership change.

Florida State held a Board of Trustees meeting earlier this month in which it spoke openly about the possibility of leaving the ACC. Members cited a massive revenue gap between the ACC’s current media rights deal and that of the Big Ten and the SEC. Chair Peter Collins called the gap “insurmountable” in an exclusive interview with Warchant just a day before that meeting.

The ACC’s current media rights deal with ESPN is dwarfed by the SEC, Big Ten and even Big 12, with schools in those conferences expected to make upwards of $30 million more annually than the ACC. The ACC schools are locked in until 2036 when the Grant of Rights expires.

However, Florida State could get out before then if it really wants to. Collins said in his interview that he understands the ACC’s Grant of Rights “very well,” adding that getting out of it is “the least of my worries.”

All those signs point to the Seminoles leaving the conference at some point, but this latest development suggests it will be at least a couple more years before it becomes reality.

Florida State president calls for time to ‘very seriously consider leaving the ACC’

At the board meeting on Wednesday, Florida State University president Rick McCullough spelled out the situation from where Florida State sits. And it’s not a pretty picture for the ACC, calling things an “existential crisis” for Florida State.

“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 we remain competitive,” McCullough said. “Unless there were a major change in the revenue distribution within the conference. I believe FSU will, at some point, have to very seriously consider leaving the ACC unless there is a radical change to the revenue distribution.”

The ACC currently splits television revenue equally among all league members. However, Florida State is at the top of the conference in TV ratings and would like a bigger share of the pie in order to consider staying.

Drew Weatherford, formerly a Florida State quarterback and current trustee, made it pretty plain that he thinks the Seminoles’ days in the ACC are numbered.

“It’s not a matter of if we leave, in my opinion,” Weatherford said. “It’s a matter of who and when we leave. Not everyone may agree with that, but I feel really strongly about it.”

On3’s Andrew Graham contributed to this report.