Breaking News Updates: FSU BOT meeting, unanimous vote to push forward with legal filing

[LauderdaleNole]

Ah dios mio
Getting into bed with private equity and taking massive loans just to be able to access the full value of our franchise.

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Peter Collins: I've asked you here today because I believe FSU athletics is under challenge requiring action on our part

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Collins explains that due to Sunshine Law, FSU's BOT must make these comments in public forum. They would prefer to do so in private but can't

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Collins says FSU has always been able to compete at a deficit to competitors in other conferences by internal fundraising to make sure programs are funded at elite levels

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Collins: It's one thing to fundraise and make up $7 million. It's another entirely to annually make up over $30 million to $40 million.

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Collins says during a review of the ACC GOR, FSU has pushed for success initiatives

 

[Bob Ferrante]

We are faced with the fact that the ACC is locked into a deteriorating media rights contract at revenues far below other conferences

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Collins calls it "the most draconian financial withdrawl penalties" that were put in place more than a decade ago.

 

[Bob Ferrante]

I believe the BOT has no choice but to challenge the legitimacy of the ACC's Grant of Rights

We must do what we believe is best for Florida State, not only in the short term but in the long term.

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Collins: All of you have received the final version of the legal complaint

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Lawyer retained by FSU discussing history of the GOR, creation of ACC Network

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Lawyer reiterates SEC Network would be five years ahead of the launch of an ACC Network

And Big Ten Network would be 13 years ahead

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Lawyer continues: ACC told its members that ESPN had issued an ultimatum that unless the members extended the GOR through 2036 (from 2027 to 2036) that ESPN will enter no further media agreements with ACC

"We don't believe that holds water."

 

[reconxo2003]

I think there is a big fish to fry before we get into which conference.
My understanding is AAU will not be "a requirement".
McCullough has AAU as his presidential goal but achieving that goal is still years away. I think is main focus right now is FSUHealth, which is a massive initiative with the College of Medicine which will also help bring FSU closer to AAU goals.

Thank you so much for this. It helps immensely and does answer my question. Not that I have any say in the matter, but my hope is joining the BIG. But, anything has got to be better than the ACC.

No question about it, the health of FSU is paramount. Yes, you are correct, I was getting ahead of myself regarding the BIG. My thought was, if the BIG was going to enforce that requirement, the only other option would be the SEC.

As for the Big-12 that would be mildly better than the ACC.

 

[Bob Ferrante]

The new (ACC) members are strong academic institutions but don't have strong Tier 1 media appeal

 

[LauderdaleNole]

We are going to challenge the legitimacy of an agreement that we signed 10 yrs ago? Based on not meeting certain ‘success initiatives’?
We all knew the ACC was dogs— . This isn’t something new in the past couple of years.
This will end up in a settlement agreement.
We will pay some portion of the exit fee (ie the most draconian financial withdrawl penalties) and we will finance that. I only hope we are smart enough to structure it as a loan instead of giving up equity.

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Lawyer forecasts the penalty of a departure at $572 million

Wow

(To update, Ashburn later says his view is the departure should be zero)

 

[reconxo2003]

This tweet from Brett McMurphy back in June seems to indicate the Big Ten has backed off that being a requirement.

View embedded media

Thanks so much for this Curt, You and Jerry have answered my question. And, I like the answer. FSU will, at some time receive its AAU certification.

Thanks again. 👍

 

[12Nole]

Collins explains that due to Sunshine Law, FSU's BOT must make these comments in public forum. They would prefer to do so in private but can't

That’s BS. The information has to be made available to the public.

FSU does not have to make a show out of it under the Sunshine Law.

But here we are again, another BOT meeting with no substance and just more screaming we want out of the ACC.

We aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Florida State Football program is dead in the water.

Should’ve listen to that guy who won us a National Championship in 2013 but he was mean and hard to work with for the soft clowns running this FSU circus.

Thank you ice cream social John Thrasher for your fantastic leadership and oversight during your retirement dream job.

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Lawyer David Asburn concludes: We're prepared to file this complaint today

 

[Bob Ferrante]

President McCullough: I fully support the BOT's decision. We've been working on this for a long time.

I feel that we are left with only this option

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Going back to a comment from Ashburn: ESPN has unilateral right to extend or decline a nine-year option from 2027-2036 with the ACC.

Not sure we had heard this before. Feels like ESPN could walk away from ACC deal in mid-2027 if it so chooses.

 

[Bob Ferrante]

McCullough: We need to do what's best for this university and our athletics department

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Alford: It really points to the mismanagement of previous conference administration

(No mention of John Swofford by name but clearly not taking a shot at Jim Phillips.)

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Alford: It is a very simple math program, a very clear math problem

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Drew Weatherford asks about the challenges of reading the ACC's Grant of Rights

Carolyn Egan, FSU's general counsel, does not have a true copy of the executed grant of rights. She says no one has a copy of the multimedia rights

Egan states there are some unexecuted copies of the GOR that are floating around the Internet

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Egan says the "multimedia agreement" is between ESPN and ACC. Those documents aren't available to BOT members

 

[Bob Ferrante]

David Ashburn, hired counsel by FSU, is asked about what's next.

He responds that the case would be filed in Circuit Court, although it may not appear as a legal document until Dec. 26

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Counsel David Ashburn states through the legal filings #FSU could acquire documents they could not otherwise without traveling to ACC HQ.

In other words, the ACC-ESPN GOR - the real one - could become public record. (This is what we've all been waiting for.)

 

[NoleLizards]

Sounds like just a lot of rigmarole to me. Seems silly to call an emergency meeting when they're not even privy to the documents in question.

 

[SallySeminole]

Going back to a comment from Ashburn: ESPN has unilateral right to extend or decline a nine-year option from 2027-2036 with the ACC.

Not sure we had heard this before. Feels like ESPN could walk away from ACC deal in mid-2027 if it so chooses.

ESPN, of course, has too much leverage in the world of college sports. Way too much. ACC lawyers should have foreseen this problem from the jump. Or, maybe they did but followed the conference's company line.

 

[Bob Ferrante]

The BOT is unanimous in pushing forward with the legal filing

 

[Bob Ferrante]

Weatherford says this is a pursuit of a "true competitive spirit."

He thinks the BOT is fighting for FSU's student-athletes

"The system is broken"

 

[Seminole Chris]

The BOT is unanimous in pushing forward with the legal filing

 

[JerryKutz]

We are going to challenge the legitimacy of an agreement that we signed 10 yrs ago? Based on not meeting certain ‘success initiatives’?
We all knew the ACC was dogs— . This isn’t something new in the past couple of years.
This will end up in a settlement agreement.
We will pay some portion of the exit fee (ie the most draconian financial withdrawl penalties) and we will finance that. I only hope we are smart enough to structure it as a loan instead of giving up equity.

One would hope it will end up in a settlement, as most litigation does.

The ACC may choose not to respond to the request for copies of the executed GOR or the multi-media rights contract that no one has been able to see. To my mind, this is the most-important action in the short term.

 

[LauderdaleNole]

So we are suing for breach of contract but we don’t have the contract and sounds like we have never even seen it.

 

[Octoberfest]

The ACC comes across as a corrupt organization. While I understand that the ACC/ESPN agreement may not fall under FOIA, the lack of transparency with the agreement is almost mafia-like.

 

[NoleLizards]

So we are suing for breach of contract but we don’t have the contract and sounds like we have never even seen it.

 

[LauderdaleNole]

The ACC comes across as a corrupt organization. While I understand that the ACC/ESPN agreement may not fall under FOIA, the lack of transparency with the agreement is almost mafia-like.

This isn’t the ACCs fault.
Who the hell signs a contract that they’ve never seen and don’t have access to?

 

[fredfarkle336]

Jerry,
What about the BIG AAU requirement. If we don’t have it, why or how will the BIG invite us in? I know President McCullough indicated that FSU plans to be AAU certified in 5 years, but how will that help us for the present?

As for Nebraska, I heard they had it when the entered the BIG and then later lost it. I have no real data on that, so take it for it is worth. It is just one of those, “Have you heard…” things.

That's correct. The University of Nebraska College of Medicine was spun off as the independent Medical College of Nebraska in Omaha. Afterward, the U of N total research dollars fell significantly below AAU levels. As I recall, Nebraska people at the time suggested that the U. of Texas AAU reps blew the whistle and wanted UN sent packing. The B1G still boasts that all but one of their schools rubs shoulders with USF and Arizona State in the AAU.