What’s FSU’s only option?

Andy Staples from On 3 joins us on the Adam Gold show. There's been nothing for you to talk about on your new show on On 3 lately. What have you been doing to find content for you, sir? It's so hard to fill the hours. I mean, we're really, you know, just trying to figure out who's going to finish third in the Mountain West and who's going to finish fourth in the MAAC, but something tells me there will be a fairly packed show tonight.

Oh my gosh. All right, so let's start with your thoughts on Florida State stomping their feet. Change the revenue distribution method drastically or else as came out of their Board of Trustees meeting yesterday? Well, they already know changing the revenue distribution method isn't going to work and isn't really in the cards. I mean, there's no incentive really for Boston College or Syracuse to do that. So, and we're going to challenge the grant of rights legally or we're going to do something. I mean, I would assume it's a court challenge at this point because that's really the only option. So, it's funny though because everybody who isn't a Florida State fan who follows the ACC is like, they're so stupid.

Why are they doing all this? There's a lot of schools that'll be awfully grateful if it works. Well, I'm sure there would, but when we talked to Bubba Cunningham today, the athletic director at UNC, for people who don't know, I know you know that, and he was like, look, you signed it.

You knew what was in it and everybody's been looking at this for three years now. So, what is stopping you now? They don't want to do it and they're doing the math on it and they're looking at a 30 to 40 million dollar gap over 13 years. And so, even if you do something that costs an incredible amount of money, you still may wind up, if you wind up in a conference that you'd rather be in, then that's fine. Because either way, you're going to be behind an incredible amount of money. So, at least try it and maybe be somewhere you want to be.

That's the part I don't get from the other ACC schools. You're not trying anything. They're trying something.

It may not work, but they're trying. Andy Staples is joining us here on The Adam Gold Show at Andy Staples on X. It is Andy underscore Staples on X. It is X now. I can't call it X. I have to call it Twitter still.

I refuse. Doesn't it seem kind of dirty to be calling it you're on X? I feel like I'm in college again.

So, while we're talking about college, I kind of feel like I'm in college again. Then, like, what's the cost? I know Bubba Cunningham a few weeks ago talked about, there's a cost that we don't know for leaving.

Right. So, I think you could estimate what the cost would be. And I think we're talking about a half billion dollars. So, is Florida State willing to pay $500 million to get into a different league?

I would say have at it. The ACC would be, Jim Phillips would go through the drive-thru at a truest tomorrow and deposit that money. Here's the thing. It won't be that much. It'll get negotiated down to below that. It'll still be a ton. Like, we're still talking probably over $350 million when all said and done. But the question is, if you can spread that out over a length of time, are you that harmed by having to pay that? Which is more harmful, staying in the ACC until 2036 or paying until whenever? And that's the question.

So, can you get favorable enough terms? And this is why I say probably a legal challenge. If you mount some sort of legal challenge and you plant the seed of doubt that the ACC would prevail. Not saying that you would definitely prevail because, I mean, I don't know that they would. But if there's doubt, then it lowers the price in a settlement.

Andy Staples is with us here on the Adam Gold Show. Here's the other thing. We could probably talk in circles about this. I actually think that the number could end up being higher because I don't know that they would end up in the S.E.C. I'm not sure the S.E.C. is motivated to add Florida State. I don't think Florida would be interested. I'm not sure Alabama would be interested. I'm not sure.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Auburn would not be interested. But here's the thing. It will be more of a dollars and cents thing. I don't know I don't know if the S.E.C. needs to expand at all past 16. Agree.

Big 10 expands to 20 next week. Does the S.E.C. do it out of a, we have to have the same number they do? I don't think you have to.

I think the product the S.E.C. has at 16 is very strong. And I don't know that adding more makes you that much more money. But they may feel like for the long term purposes that they need to be the same size as the Big 10. That's the only reason I could see that happening. I think we they would probably be better served to just wait till it all falls apart because if the Big 10 goes to 20, aren't we by the way just like a week after the new commissioner said we're not interested in expanding we're just interested we're just interested in making Southern Cal and UCLA feel at home in their new conference and now they're interested in expanding again.

Well first rule of realignment is if someone is if someone's lips are moving they're lying. So that and remember now Tony Petitti this is he's catching straight here not his fault because he wasn't around then right but remember the Big 10 was part of the alliance. Man yeah that that was that was a completely failed experiment. The ACC and the PAC-12 looked like complete clowns for that. Yep I agree you know and it really goes back to the pandemic when all five conferences got together and basically said you know what we're let's just kind of wait wait this out a little bit and then the Big 10 all of a sudden turn around and said we're not playing and the ACC and the the SEC were like what are we doing here well we I thought we just all agreed on this and that's when every that all alliances were silly uh every conference is going to do what they what they want to do for themselves so let me ask you this and you and I have talked about the future before and whether we see it as a large number of teams uh separating from the rest in the FBS level or a smaller number of teams I think last time we spoke you talked about it being maybe 40 schools exiting are we headed for a complete implosion of what we know as major college football in terms of conference affiliation and all of that to basically a premier league type of a situation I think it's it's getting there I don't know that it's going to be totally a premier league like what they have in England is they have the premier league and the championship is the next division down I think it'd be bigger than the premier league primarily it's 20 teams and so I think it'd be I think it'd be bigger than 40 because here's here's where I think the line actually gets drawn I think it really actually gets drawn in basketball more than football because there's a billion dollar television property called the NCAA basketball tournament and guess who's gonna want the money from that all these conferences that also make all the money on football and they're gonna say you know what we still want to run that tournament and so if we're all going to group together into a division or a subdivision let's let's all do that and let's let's be not necessarily the FBS but maybe what we now know is the power five like about 60 you know 65 70 so you could have a 64 team tournament at the end of the year in basketball I thought you were talking about a 64 team tournament in football I I've said no no we'll it we'll be at 24 for football yeah yeah I I think 20 well the other divisions are already at 24 right so we know we know how it works exactly but no I I think people are thinking it's a football only thing but like I look at what the big 12 is doing and you know that I think they're going to get better than what they expected I think they were thinking they were going to get Colorado and then maybe Arizona would come or maybe they wouldn't and they go to Yukon but either way whether it was Arizona or Yukon they were going to get another great basketball program and they'd have this incredible basketball league that that the cool kids can't leave out of their basketball tournament when they split it off right and so but I think that's where the acq schools are safe too on that front I think they still get to be part of that club because of that because these people would rather share that billion dollars amongst themselves and I think I think that as a TV property still only goes up so let's say it's 1.5 billion dollars next time around they could keep it all instead of sharing it among all the people you shared among that oh I think there's no question that that the basketball tournament will continue to progress the women's basketball tournament will also continue to get better yeah it's worth way more than just getting paid for right now no question we're just finding this out about women's soccer too they're all of a sudden like wait a second people are watching this like walking at three in the morning it's it's very very silly I am I hope you are as well all right so final thing Andy and I appreciate your time does when when this is all said and done are we just looking at four conferences four divisions within one conference and I'm not going to say the revenue is pooled but that the revenue is closer when we get down to the end of it no the revenue is going to be higher in the Big Ten in the SEC by a lot okay they've got the best football team right they have the most valuable football teams and that will be the most valuable thing but I don't think they're going to push the ACC out of the club I don't think they're going to push the Big 12 out of the club for the reasons I said there's there's still some value in being affiliated with them for for all of them and then we'll see what happens with the with the football pieces that do you know do they just take the best football brand and consolidate you know at this point if Oregon and Washington get pulled into the Big Ten Clemson and Florida State are really the only ones left on the board in terms of if you just mix those helmets in on the helmet schedule would you would everybody automatically say these are better games yes you'd say that like I know the the SEC in the Big Ten both covered North Carolina but that's not the same level of you throw that helmet in there it's not the same thing like no you add Clemson to the Big Ten and suddenly Clemson Michigan Clemson Ohio State Clemson USC Clemson Penn State Clemson Michigan State Clemson Wisconsin everybody's watching those games yep you know same thing as Florida State Oregon same deal or if you added Clemson and Florida State to the SEC same thing but they're really the only ones left on the board if Oregon and Washington come off that you can say that about Andy Staples I know you're having a good time at on3 on3sports at on3sports on twitter the Andy Staples show uh you look good on tv I guess or my computer screen uh either way appreciate uh appreciate your time and we'll talk again down the road my friend all right thank you got it Andy Staples here on the Adam Gold show uh that's really where we're going you