I am not a big follower of the ACC network as an issue because I don't like to get buried in all the conflicting revenue statistics. But for FSU - the discussion of a network was a big deal when John Swofford made two "secret" meetings to Tallahassee in spring of 2013 - including a special meeting on the day of the spring football game. Following what was said at this meeting, FSU agreed to sign the GOR. The only reason I know this is because of the reporting of then Tallahassee Democrat reporter Ira Schoffel.
It was first reported in early 2013 that the ACC was going to explore getting a network. And while there are no concrete facts that I can point to which indicates that FSU was seriously looking at other conferences - it is a concrete fact that FSU voted against the last two fee increases a member would have to pay to leave the ACC. ESPN had already committed to the SEC network, and back in early 2013 it was disclosed that the SEC network would start in August 2014. There were reports that ESPN wasn't all that enthused about trying for another conference network - the SEC would be its first one and that was over a year away for determining if it was successful. But if you connect the dots - if FSU voted against the two prior fee increases, it certainly would never sign a GOR. Swofford needed it to get ESPN to buy into the idea of an ACC network. So, off to Tallahassee he went. In Ira's 2013 story, he noted that some trustees were very much against signing the GOR and some booster leaders were leery of it.
Some people comment that it is useless to complain about the GOR as there was no other place to go. But FSU would not have signed the GOR unless the issues that concerned its leaders (when they voted against the prior two fee increases) were resolved.
An update would be interesting.
It was first reported in early 2013 that the ACC was going to explore getting a network. And while there are no concrete facts that I can point to which indicates that FSU was seriously looking at other conferences - it is a concrete fact that FSU voted against the last two fee increases a member would have to pay to leave the ACC. ESPN had already committed to the SEC network, and back in early 2013 it was disclosed that the SEC network would start in August 2014. There were reports that ESPN wasn't all that enthused about trying for another conference network - the SEC would be its first one and that was over a year away for determining if it was successful. But if you connect the dots - if FSU voted against the two prior fee increases, it certainly would never sign a GOR. Swofford needed it to get ESPN to buy into the idea of an ACC network. So, off to Tallahassee he went. In Ira's 2013 story, he noted that some trustees were very much against signing the GOR and some booster leaders were leery of it.
Some people comment that it is useless to complain about the GOR as there was no other place to go. But FSU would not have signed the GOR unless the issues that concerned its leaders (when they voted against the prior two fee increases) were resolved.
An update would be interesting.
Last edited:
