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Florida State, Clemson boards approve settlement to resolve lawsuits with ACC

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•about 12 hours•

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ACC-Clemson-Florida State

As Florida State, Clemson and the ACC worked Tuesday to settle lawsuits, three things had to happen. The first occurred Tuesday morning when the ACC’s board of directors approved terms of a settlement.

The next two took place shortly thereafter. Both FSU and Clemson’s boards of trustees met, and they – as expected – also approved the settlement.

The two boards met virtually Tuesday to discuss the agreements, which would settle the schools’ lawsuits against the ACC and the conference’s suits against the universities. Both boards went into closed session, as is standard procedure, before coming back to public session and voting. They returned roughly 30 minutes later.

Clemson approved the settlement at the end of its meeting, as Florida State was still discussing. When FSU’s board asked for opposition, no board member spoke – meaning it was unanimously approved.

“I’m proud of where we’ve where we’ve landed,” trustee and former FSU quarterback Drew Weatherford said. “We made some commitments 14 months ago that we would do everything in our power to ensure that we could compete at the highest level. I think we’ve done that here. We also made it clear that we were willing to seek a new home if something drastically didn’t change.

“But the good news is that things have drastically changed since we had that conversation – for our benefit – and there’s been a lot of work done. … So I just want Seminole nation to know that the future is bright. I am extremely encouraged and I’m confident that we will remain one of the top athletic brands in the country for decades to come, and I wasn’t that confident 14 months ago. So I just commend the entire board, the entire organization, for getting to where we are today. Net and net, I think it’s a really great outcome for everybody involved.”

Details of the settlement between FSU, Clemson, ACC

On3’s Andy Staples reported the key number in the settlement talks between Florida State, Clemson and the ACC is the exit fee. A source told On3 this week a school could pay about $200 million to leave the ACC once the settlement went through. That figure falls to “well below” $100 million should a school wish to exit the league after the 2029-30 school year.

According to the proposal, the exit fee will be $165 million for fiscal year 2026. It then drops by $18 million per year until it gets to $75 million in 2030-31 and levels off. Schools will also keep their media rights after paying the exit fees.

Revenue distribution was another important area. As the Florida State board walked through the terms of the settlement, it confirmed a new revenue distribution model based on a five-year rolling average of TV ratings. A majority share – 60% – of the base media rights will be placed into a viewership pool to be distributed via a TV ratings-based model, the settlement terms said. It will take effect this coming year.

Clemson projected the “opportunity” for more than $120 million in new revenue over the next six years in its board meeting. It includes the “viewership pool,” as well as enhanced ACC “success initiatives.”

The ACC’s grant of rights was at the center of legal disputes between both schools and the conference. Florida State’s lawsuit centered around the ACC’s grant of rights, which is an agreement that gives conferences the right to broadcast all member schools’ home games for the duration of the media rights deal. The ACC’s grant of rights runs through 2026.

However, documents released by Florida’s attorney general showed ESPN has an option in 2027. FSU contended an amendment signed by commissioner Jim Phillips changed that date to February 2025. In January, ESPN announced it planed to opt-in and extend the deal to 2036.

Clemson, meanwhile, was seeking to clarify if the university controls its broadcast rights if it leaves the conference. After both schools filed suits against the ACC, the conference countered.