The ACC's lawsuit settlement with Florida State, Clemson a short-term win

The ACC has reached a tentative settlement with Florida State and Clemson the bring an end to their lawsuits over exit fees and revenue sharing in the conference, in a move the league hopes will bring much-needed stability in a time of chaos around college athletics.

Andrea Adelson, David Hale, and Pete Thamel of ESPN reported the agreement, which still needs to be approved by the ACC's board of directors as well as the boards of both Florida State and Clemson. However, sources reported that they expecte all parties to ratify the settlement.

The new revenue distribution model will see 40 percent of the money distributed equally to its members, with 60 percent going to the league's new "brand initiative," in which the money will be distributed on a system based on a five-year rolling average of television ratings.

Top earners in the new system are expected to receive up to an extra $15 million per season, while other schools will see a loss of close to $7 million in their revenue. The deal also includes a success initiatives fund, which will reward schools for hitting benchmarks like winning titles, making tournaments, and making runs in said tournaments.

It also includes decreasing penalties each year for schools who attempt to leave the conference's grant of rights, with the biggest drop coming after the 2030 season.

All in all, the deal is seen as giving the conference the short-term stability it had been seeking, even if it negatively impacts the lower-ranking members of the conference.

And in the end, given the current landscape of college sports, that kind of short-term stability is incredibly valuable.

After all, the ACC just watched (and ultimately played a small role in) what happened to the Pac-12; they saw its flagship programs jump ship only to be immediately followed by the next tier of schools, before it was torn asunder by teams fleeing the ship as it sank, leaving Oregon State and Washington State desperately trying to bail water from the holes that had been drilled.

It was clear that Florida State and Clemson wanted a bigger piece of the pie to stick around, and while Miami wasn't part of the lawsuit, you can bet they wanted that bigger slice too. Now, they've gotten it, but with the caveat that that larger chunk of the pie comes with the largest television ratings, and success on the sport's biggest stage.

Yes, it makes it easier for those schools to leave over the long term, but that's the nature of the sport at this point, and extending the runway to figure out the landscape after the House settlement is a major win. Things are going to be chaotic enough for schools and conferences in the coming years without having to contend with the possibility of two of your biggest revenue drivers leaving town on a whim.

Ultimately, the ACC managed to placate two of their biggest schools, while not overly irritating anyone at the lower levels of the conference, and hold itself together for a while longer. And given the state of college sports as a whole and college football specifically, that's a major victory.

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