Does Florida State have the big bucks to leave the ACC?

It is time.

It is a Wednesday. Chip Patterson joins us. Cover 3 Podcast moderator, my friend for many, many years.

Golf partner occasionally when we used to play golf. So he joins us. Alright, there's a number of things I want to get to.

I don't want to start with the really bad stuff first. So let's start with Mike Alford, the Director of Athletics at Florida State, talking to the Board of Trustees at Florida State, and just kind of having a conversation about how do we buy our way out of the league? An incomplete conversation because no mention of grant of rights happened, but what was your read on all of that? That Jim Phillips is probably not surprised that this is coming. And don't forget, we also had Clemson Athletic Director Graham Neff speaking to the Post and Courier saying the word urgent when talking about unequal revenue distribution.

The fact that these two comments would be made in very public settings within 24, 48 hours of each other indicates that this is probably something that's going on behind the scenes. Their support of unequal revenue distribution has now basically become a demand. And so what I'm probably more curious about is what does Boston College think?

What does Syracuse think? Because contractually, they don't have to give up a daggone penny. The paper says that we don't have to do unequal revenue distribution. That's not what we agreed to with this 20-year contract that we signed back in 2016. The issue for Jim Phillips and for the ACC league office is whether or not you think unequal revenue distribution, if you can get it passed and agreed upon by the ACC schools, whether that is going to just delay an inevitability or whether you're going to really get a commitment from some of your bigger brands, from some of your most valuable programs, at least in terms of a media rights and a television standpoint. Because what I have circled is 2028 because the issue for the ACC is there are schools that could be coveted by the SEC and by the Big Ten. And every single other power conference is going to renew their media rights deal before the ACC gets to renew its media rights deal.

And when you renew the media rights deal, that is an opportune time to expand. A new media rights deal is right in line with the SEC adding Texas and Oklahoma, with the Big Ten adding USC and UCLA, and with the Big Twelve adding Cincinnati, Houston, BYU, and UCF. So when you come to the table and you start talking about the next deal, being able to have a North Carolina, a Virginia, if you're the Big Ten, being able to have a Florida State or perhaps a Clemson if you are the SEC, that could only lead to more money. That is what I think would get those conferences and those university presidents in those conferences to be a little bit more interested in it. So if you are the ACC, you are unsurprised that Florida State and Clemson want to create an unequal revenue distribution. The math you have to make a decision on is whether or not that's going to be enough to be able to prevent what could be a really unstable situation here five years down the road. This may be naive of me, and I understand that you can always buy your way out of a contract. But even at 2028, with a new media deal set to start, let's just say in 2030, okay? So even then, making that announcement, that grant of rights for six years to receive no money from media for a Florida State or a Clemson or a North Carolina or Virginia, because the ACC's grant of rights lasts through the end of this contract, I mean, it's not just the buyout. It becomes the buyout plus all of that other money that you're not getting. It would be financial suicide unless you can get your essentially buy your way out of the grant of rights.

And I would imagine that attorneys would have already done that with since we have known about this, not just this latest round, but the previous one, the previous round with Oklahoma and Texas leaving then. Here's my question about the imbalanced payouts from the league to a Florida State or to a Clemson or to a Miami or whoever. Or North Carolina.

Or North Carolina. North Carolina is one of the most valuable pieces from a media rights perspective, one of the most valuable brands in all of college sports. How much can you really bridge the gap? I mean, if Florida State got, you know, the high end of the imbalanced payout, you're not making up 30 million. So how much could you really bridge the gap? I think that you I I'm not going to be able to run the math on this, but I think that when you're talking about a gap of 30 million, if you could do 10 million more than you were, that's a sizable chunk.

Well, it is. Ten million more than you were making is money that can be applied in ways that can help you remain competitive with those. I mean, these are these are athletic departments and in particular football programs that are seeing the revenue disparity and they are seeing it with the size of the analyst staffs.

They are seeing it with the size of your evaluation, your recruiting. This is no longer about the fountain in the locker room or the slide at the football facility. I mean, we pointed to all those things when you had to hide the money because the players couldn't get paid. Right. We have not had as many of these like froufrou locker room additions. Instead, this is about the staffing that you have within your football program.

And to answer the beginning part, you're right. Even at twenty twenty eight, the number is going to be astronomical. And but every year it does get cheaper. Sure.

Go into the future. It gets cheaper to leave. It has been suggested to me that there are programs that might be able to go to a prominent booster who might have a private equity firm depending on where we are within the state of college athletics and whether or not major college football players are employees, whether athletic departments even have any tie to a university beyond paying a licensing fee in order to use the name and likeness of the university and the mascot that private money could end up. And this is going to blow someone's mind. So this has only been suggested to me that it's a possible option, but that private money could buy ownership in athletic departments and in doing so, bankroll the exit from the Atlantic Coast Conference. So let's just say I don't think he has the money, but let's just say Burt Reynolds, noted FSC alumna. John Ruiz, like it would be John Ruiz, Miami, like Life Wallet has bought a massive stake in the Miami Hurricanes Athletic Department, Miami Hurricanes football program. And they are now a part owner of this entity. And in doing so, they have brought to the table enough cash to be able to cover the enormous financial burden of leaving the ACC all done in the name of eliminating this financial gap that you have with the SEC in the Big Ten. All right. Then that's if that's what's going to happen, then that is going to happen.

But but the finances have been what would prevent these schools from doing it, because from from a financial standpoint, from a traditional financial standpoint, there's just no way around not having, oh, I don't know, by putting yourself two hundred and fifty million dollars in the hole. I've got it three fifty right now. OK, that's fine. Even even worse. So there's just no way around that. You know, you you can make that back at Ohio State or at Texas, you know, or at Georgia in in a couple of years.

But you can't make that back anywhere else in a cup. There's only a handful of universities whose athletic departments generate that kind of revenue to cover that over less than really less than a 10 year span. But yeah, we are we are at a crossroads with all of this. How much does the Pac-12, Chip Patterson is with us as he is on Wednesdays, how much of the Pac-12 and the fact that they are now without I'm not going to say they're only two flagships, but I don't know what real value is is sitting there in any other Pac-12 school since Southern Cal and UCLA are exiting next year. I would put Oregon and Washington as the next two. I would put Oregon and Washington as, you know, large state universities, big flagship state universities. They do invest in their football programs heavily. They prioritize their football programs. And, you know, this is why they're so often connected to the Big Ten. They are both members of the secret frat, you know, the secret fraternity of all the like really good schools.

They call themselves the AAU, but I know it's just the skull bones of the university presidents or whatever. But Oregon and Washington fit the bill for a lot of those things that we normally look at for a potential Big Ten member. They are a logical traveling partner, I guess you could say, even though they're the distance between the Pacific Northwest and Los Angeles is arguably the same as what you would have from going from Los Angeles.

I don't know. I haven't done the math to Chicago and Nebraska. I was going to say to Champaign, Illinois.

Yeah. But you add another West Coast presence, you know, in the you get down to the Pac-12, the corner schools, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, a set of schools that potentially could be a target for the Big 12. Brett McMurphy of the Action Network had a great point actually on the Solid Verbal podcast with Ty and Dan. He said the Big 12 is in the best position right now. Not compared to the SEC and the Big Ten, but of the other three Power Five conferences is that no one's really looking at these Big 12 schools and wants them.

There are schools that are coveted. There are Pac-12 schools that are coveted, but the Big 12, which just, you know, added in new members and has a new media rights deal on deck like that is actually the safest position to be in outside of the SEC and the Big Ten is because no one wants any of the schools that are there that allows them to be in a position of being aggressive as the Pac-12 tick, tick, tick still does not have any commitment to each other beyond 2025. And that's why the anxiety is ramping up with the Pac-12. You know, we talk about what might happen in 2030 with the ACC. What about if all of a sudden we get closer to the deadline? That means Oregon and Washington could leave with no penalty.

Right. That means Oregon and Washington could join the Big Ten with no paperwork. It was like, sorry, deals up. We're free agents. We're free agents. At that point, the Big Ten would have its, you know, new commissioner. You know, we would be in the expanded college football playoff era officially. It's it's it's not great for the Pac-12.

And here's what I would say. If the Pac-12 announces a new media rights deal that is eight, nine, ten years long, probably means that Oregon and Washington are comfortable being big fish, little pond in the Pac-12 and maintaining whatever tradition ties they have to the conference. And they are going to continue to try to use that as a competitive advantage. But if the Pac-12 announces a deal that's like four, five years. That's when I start to say, OK, they've got a little a few more years here. Yeah. And then when this deal runs up, then they're going to be gone. So let me ask you this question before I have to move on to a different topic. Chip Patterson is with his Cover Three podcast moderator.

Because this will take creative thinking anyway. Is there a way for the Atlantic Coast Conference to leverage the uncertainty of the Pac-12 with? I'm not saying add Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado, Cal, Stanford, the eight schools there, whatever it is. Is there a way for the ACC to leverage it from even a scheduling standpoint, an alliance standpoint where they can increase some revenue? Like Georgia Tech, Syracuse was supposed to be on, I guess, a third tier last night on Yes Network. But Yes decided, nah, not interested. So they didn't air the game.

Is there a way to leverage maybe a streamer and have some sort of a scheduling alliance where there are more games available and the ACC could make even more money? The answer might be no. That's possible. I think the sense that I have gotten is that there's like, well, there's nothing you can do. I'm mad. Well, there's nothing you can do about it. Well, I'm still mad. Okay.

And that's why it's like Pete Thamel, of course, did like, you know, a lot of good reporting on this. And the sense is, you know, the ACC is like, well, nothing's going to happen soon. And I don't see I don't I don't get the sense that there's like an aggressive, super creative. Let's try to think way outside the box and, and tie together the two coasts and, and we'll buy up the Pac 12 network and we'll meld it in with the ACC network. I mean, I've, I've worked a lot of those no bad ideas thought experiments to the it's, it certainly seems to be that no one wants to get really creative, because no one is even certain what high level college athletics is going to look like in three years. Let me just interrupt you here because I have this is a bigger picture question. Do you think anybody involved in these decisions gives a damn about the future of the sport? Or is it just about the future of their leagues? I, what do you mean by the future that because there's ultimately like we come back to our players going to be deemed employees? Well, to me, I think that's a separate issue.

I think it's a separate issue. I think that that is the collegiate model and, you know, like the finances of high level college athletics. If there's about to be an eruption that turns this whole thing on its head.

I think that a lot of people are just probably not moved to try and get really creative to forge something that's just going to end up getting thrown by the wayside. Well, that is true. If, if we have, if we're down to 50 healthy college football programs at the highest level. Right. Is that better than having a sport with 100?

No, not. Okay, so that that that that is my ultimate question, then make more money, you make more money with a Super League, you will make much more money, right with the profitable brands are able to run off and strike up their own television deals, no question like that, but that to me, is not healthier for the sport of college football. So that's that, that, then you're sort of answering my question. Yeah, nobody gives a damn about the health of the sport, right? And that's the thing that's really scary. And I what we have these, we know what the SEC goal is, we know what the big 10 goal is, they're the same is global dumb. It's like playing risk. Yeah, right there is global domination. And that is not good for the sport as a whole.

And nobody seems to care. Like, to be honest, the big 12 treaded water, their, their new meat media deal just maintains the status quo for them. They will they will go to market again before the ACC. It looks to me, I think the ACC is ultimately going to top out between 35 and 40, maybe a little bit higher.

Right? It looks like the big 12 is like 32 or 33. So yeah, I mean, to me, those are the same.

I think those you throw a blanket over him. I think those those two things are the same. But in 2011, when we thought the big 12 is dead on the vine, right? That's, it's actually kind of a remarkable success story that they've been able to endure this or colossal failure by Larry Scott, former PAC 12 Commissioner. Yes, I think the answer to that is, yes.

That final thing before I let you go, and this is really a downer. What happens to Jalen Carter? For those people who don't know, arguably the best prospect in the upcoming draft is defensive tackle from Georgia. And there's a warrant out for his arrest for his part in what authorities in Athens are terming racing on the street, which took the life of a Georgia offensive lineman and a recruiting staffer for the University of Georgia. He has not been charged with vehicular homicide or anything like that. But there are there are charges for his arrest and a warrant has been issued. He was supposed to speak at the combine today.

Obviously, that's not going to happen. What ultimately happens to Jalen Carter here, if anything? It's facing two misdemeanor charges. Jalen Carter just released a statement recently believing that he will not face, will not be convicted of any criminal charges.

He will be, quote, exonerated for any wrongdoing. The statement from the police was very troublesome. Really, really disturbing. They said the according to the investigation, the evidence demonstrated that both vehicles, the one driven by Jalen Carter and one driven by Chandler LaCroix, who died that night at the age of 24, a staffer for the program. Remember, also offensive lineman Devin Willock, age 20, died also from that accident. The evidence demonstrated vehicles switched between lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel, overtook other motorists, drove at high rates of speed in an apparent attempt to out distance each other. Evidence indicated shortly before the crash. The car driven by Chandler LaCroix was at about 104 miles per hour, and all of this happened around 2 30 a.m. Yeah, there was also drunk driving in the LaCroix car. Point 197, right?

Yeah. Point 197 was the blood alcohol content. Investigators determined that alcohol impairment, racing, reckless driving and speed were significant contributing factors to the crash. I I think that Jalen Carter is not going to face any legal trouble that will prevent him from playing a full that will prevent him from playing in the NFL. I think that Jalen Carter will not face any legal trouble that will prevent him from being a high first round draft pick.

I think that the the this should lead to some questions about decision making. And I I mean this like Adam, this was the night they celebrated the championship on Monday night. They beat TCU 65 to 7 on Saturday. They had thousands of fans in the parade celebrating their second straight national championship. They had one national championship before last season.

Now they've got three and they just went back to back. And honestly, man, like I'm this stuff haunts me because the idea that you wouldn't accomplish something awesome and then you went out and celebrated and then you did something dumb. Mm hmm.

Is not an uncommon thread for a lot of people. And I said this on the cover three podcast this morning, but like the just the difference between young and dumb and young and dead is so thin in situations like these. And it just like haunts me. I think about like times when my own poor decision making could have led to something much worse than what it is.

I think about my two young sons that they will be young and dumb at one point or another. If I'm an NFL team like I I want to think about decision making. You know this. I don't think that these are going to lead to legality issues that are going to prevent Jalen Carter from being a star NFL player. If I'm an NFL general manager, I do want to talk about this and I want to talk about what you learned. And one last thing on this. If I am the parent of a Georgia football player, I want Kirby Smart, one of the most highly paid coaches in college athletics to use this as a way to help his program avoid future mistakes because these guys are getting NIL money and they're going to get cars and they're going to get the kind of cars that are fun to race. Right.

I have this. I'm serious like this. No, you do not want to allow something like this to happen again in the future.

So I don't I don't think it is indicative of anything existing within Georgia. I don't know that far because, again, I understand the circumstances. The season just ended. You won the national championship. It's the night you celebrated.

You went and were really dumb and it ended horribly. But now let's move forward. And that's where if I was a parent of a player on the Georgia football team, I want Kirby Smart to show some leadership.

We always say these guys are leaders of men. We want to make sure that it gets into the head of every one of your players, that this is not acceptable behavior and this is not decision making that is going to be tolerated moving forward. Yeah, I mean, he'll still be a very, very high draft pick.

He's an incredibly talented player. Those those conversations. He said he was going only going to the combine for interviews. Not going to work out. Those interviews, I think, will be the difference between maybe being the second or, you know, the the first defensive player off the board or maybe the third defensive player.

I don't know. He's going to be a high draft pick anyway. I mean, Will Anderson is out there. Will Anderson is. Yeah. I mean, the way the NFL is going, though, if you have a defensive tackle who dominates the game, it almost trumps everything else.

I mean, Aaron Donald has changed the NFL and to an extent, you know, so is Chris Jones from the Kansas City Chiefs changed the NFL. Chip Patterson, you're the man. I appreciate your time, as always, on a Wednesday. Talk to you very soon. Sounds good. You'll be well. Chip Patterson here on The Adam Gold Show.