It’s been nearly 10 months since Florida State sued the Atlantic Coast Conference over its grant of rights and exit fee, and nearly seven months since Clemson did the same . According to ACC commissioner Jim Phillips , that’s only the beginning.
Phillips was brief in his comments surrounding the ACC’s ongoing legal battle with two of its most prominent schools during his news conference at Wednesday’s ACC Tipoff basketball preseason event.
His message, though, didn’t waver from the fiery address he delivered from the podium roughly three months ago at the conference’s preseason football media event at the same venue.
“As I stated in July and it’s still consistent today with multiple ongoing legal cases involving the ACC and two member schools, there remain limits to what I can share on the topic,” Phillips said Wednesday at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown.
He declined to address Clemson and FSU by name.
“However, I will restate: We remain confident in our legal position and are prepared for long-term litigation,” Phillips said. “What we will not do is let the ongoing legal processes distract us from providing outstanding experiences for our student-athletes, teams and coaches at our 18 member institutions.”
Phillips’ comments came roughly three weeks after reports surfaced that Clemson, FSU and the ACC were in talks of the parties potentially settling their lawsuits and moving forward with a system in which those two schools could earn more revenue.
The Atlantic Coast Conference’s board of directors heard various presentations on a proposal to create a separate stream of revenue — on top of the results-based “success initiative” that went into effect this athletic year — that would be distributed annually to member schools based on various “media value” metrics, The State reported last month.
The move, first reported by Yahoo Sports , is specifically meant to maintain Clemson and FSU’s ACC membership after both schools challenged the enforceability of the conference’s grant of rights in court. That document currently ties ACC schools’ media rights revenue (hundreds of millions of dollars) to the ACC through 2036 regardless of whether or not they’re still in the conference.
A source familiar with the situation told The State in September proposal was “ pretty straightforward ” but, at the same time, conceptual in nature since it was so new. The proposal reportedly gained traction during a scheduled mediation for Florida State’s lawsuit against the ACC earlier that month.
Phillips was not asked about reports surrounding a potential settlement or an added “media value” metric schools could earn during his news conference Wednesday in Charlotte.
Phillips did speak on the ACC’s new “ success initiative ” that went into effect this athletic year, describing it as an “innovative and progressive” step allowing for schools to earn additional money from football and men’s basketball success on top of their annual per-school distributions.
He said the conference is “prepared” to include women’s basketball success within that same initiative assuming the NCAA Division I Board of Directors approves a proposal in January that would financially reward women’s basketball programs for NCAA Tournament participation through what’s known as “ units .”
“We remain aggressively evaluating financial opportunities, including any area that potentially enhances our conference revenues both in the immediate and long-term future of the ACC,” Phillips added.
There are currently four active lawsuits in the ACC’s legal battle against the Tigers and the Seminoles: FSU’s lawsuit against the ACC in Leon County, Florida (Tallahassee); Clemson’s lawsuit against the ACC in Pickens County, South Carolina (where Clemson is located); and the ACC’s countersuits against both schools in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (Charlotte).
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