ACC board to meet Tuesday, potentially settle disputes with Clemson, Florida State

The ACC board of directors will meet Tuesday to discuss and likely vote on a deal to end the legal disputes between the conference and Florida State and Clemson, a person briefed on the situation confirmed Monday.

The boards of trustees for Florida State and Clemson will also meet Tuesday to discuss the litigation, according to agendas posted Monday morning.

Advertisement ESPN first reported the ACC, Clemson and Florida State were closing in on an agreement to end multiple lawsuits that had threatened conference stability for more than a year.

Assuming all sides agree to drop the lawsuits and it has been heading in this direction for months it will mark the end of more than 14 months of nine-figure litigation between the conference and two of its marquee programs.

The dispute was, at times, ugly and threatened to advance to the U.S.

Supreme Court.

At the core of the ACCs peace treaty is an agreement among the 18 members to implement a new system of revenue sharing that will create performance bonuses for members based on television viewership.

Similar to the ACCs success initiative, which was implemented last year and allows members to earn millions in bonuses based on success on the football field and basketball court, the brand initiative would be available to all members.

Details still need to be worked out, the source said, but bonuses would be paid out to schools based on average TV viewership over a rolling five-year period.

Also, the conference is re-assessing its bylaws to provide clarity about financial penalties that can be imposed upon a school that leaves the league before the ACCs contract with ESPN ends in 2036.

In late January, ESPN agreed to pick up an option to continue its exclusive deal with the ACC beyond 2027.

The dispute between the ACC, Florida State and Clemson centered on hundreds of millions of dollars of TV rights if a school leaves the conference.

The schools argued the leagues contracts said the schools would keep those media rights, which they could bundle with a new conference (like the Big Ten or SEC).

The ACC disagreed and said all schools granted the rights to the league collectively through an agreement called a grant of rights.

Advertisement The real issue came down to a growing gap in revenue between the ACC and the Power Two of the SEC and Big Ten.

The ACCs deficit could grow to as much as $40 million annually per school when new TV deals for the Big Ten and SEC fully kick in and the College Football Playoff contract adjusts next year.

This story will be updated.

(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images).

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