FSU Board of Trustees talk openly about potential ACC exit, but no vote taken

The Florida State Board of Trustees and President Richard McCullough put the ACC on notice Wednesday that barring “radical change” in revenue distribution, the Seminoles plan to work on finding a new conference and television affiliation.

Although conference alignment was not on the official Board of Trustees meeting agenda, McCullough opened his public comments by saying he has seen no promise of a positive resolution with the Atlantic Coast Conference and its massive revenue gap with the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference.

“We are seeing large media deals have been made with places like the Big Ten and the SEC, which in many ways are creating, maybe this is an exaggeration, but an existential crisis perhaps for Florida State University as we will be $30 million per school, per year behind in our gap in conference distribution with contracts which are said to go through 2036,” McCullough told the Trustees. “Without increasing revenue, we will face major challenges in being able to compete in football, as the landscape is changing dramatically with our ability to compete in NIL, coaching salaries and attractive facilities to continue to build our brand and be competitive.

“We of course are not satisfied with our situation. We love the ACC. We love our partners with ESPN. Our goal would be to continue 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 — unless there were a major change in the revenue distribution within the conference. That has not happened.”

McCullough repeated what Board of Trustees Chair Peter Collins and FSU athletics director Michael Alford have said in the past — that the Seminoles are the top TV ratings draw in the conference and would like to be compensated along those lines.

The ACC currently splits television revenue equally among all league members.

“FSU helps to drive value and would drive value for any partner, but we have spent a year trying to understand how we might fix the issue,” McCullough said. “There are no easy fixes to this problem. … I would say that my current assessment of the situation, after very deep analysis, is that I believe that FSU will have to at some point consider very seriously leaving the ACC unless there were a radical change to the revenue distribution.”

Every member of the Florida State Board of Trustees who spoke Wednesday echoed those sentiments.

Former FSU quarterback Drew Weatherford, who is a member of the Board, said the Seminoles have to decide if they want to “play” football or compete for championships. He said if nothing major changes with the ACC’s revenue model, the questions will be how and when — not if — FSU leaves the conference for a new home.

“I’ve thought about this a lot as an ex-player, now Board of Trustees member, and the simple fact is the cost of playing at the highest level is outpacing the ACC’s ability to compete on a regular basis,” Weatherford said. “If you go back and look at how many wins ACC schools have had in the College Football Playoff, who other than Clemson has had meaningful wins?”

Trustee Justin Roth said after delving into the topic for months, he can’t see things working out in the ACC. He said staying would be akin to “death by a thousand cuts” and that he would recommend FSU announce an exit plan from the conference within the next 12 months.

“Just waiting is not the answer,” Roth said.

Collins, who took part in a lengthy Q&A with Warchant on Tuesday, said he was not calling for a vote of action during Wednesday’s meeting, but added that the issue would be brought back to the board “sooner than later.”

“We’ve got to fight for ourselves,” he said.

*ALSO SEE: 10 Key Takeaways from conversation with FSU Board of Trustees Chair Peter Collins

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