Clemson football: Why ACC Grant of Rights might not mean as much as we think

Over the course of the last week, rumors have been swirling surrounding the Clemson football program and several others due to the expansion moves being made by the SEC.

The SEC has officially added two schools to its member institution list in Texas and Oklahoma, and there are rumors that the conference might not be done yet. Because of that, many Clemson football fans have been hoping to hear the Tigers connected to the SEC as another potential addition.

While it’s certainly possible and Clemson has been named on the rumor mill, it’s not as easy as paying a conference buyout fee and then filling out an application for membership.

It’s a two-step process: First, you have to pay an exit fee. Then, you’ve got the big mountain to overcome: The Grant of Rights.

For those who are unfamiliar, a grant of rights agreement is when institutions agree to allow the conference have the rights to their media. The ACC agreed to a Grant of Rights deal that runs through 2036 and if a member were to leave before then, they’d have to pay the exit fee and then would forfeit the revenue gained through their media to the ACC. Over the course of 15 years, we could be talking about hundreds of millions of dollars.

This is why many have said there’s no way for any institution to leave the ACC before 2036, but we’re not going to go quite that far.

Why the ACC Grant of Rights might not be as strong as we think and what this means for Clemson football

It’s easy to say that the conference has a Grant of Rights agreement in place and that means no school could leave without suffering crippling financial consequences along the way.

But what if we told you it might not mean as much as many are making it out to be?

Let’s give you an example.

If Clemson and Florida State both elected to leave the ACC, complete turmoil would break out within the conference. Because of the loss of two schools, ESPN would have every right to renegotiate its contractual agreement with the ACC and could, in some respects, leave the conference for dead.

The one thing we have to remember in these hypothetical renegotiations is that ESPN would hold all the cards and the ACC would have almost nothing. The conference has nearly no negotiating power when its two biggest brands are gone.

In turn, the ACC may would fold on its own, leaving the other 12 conference members to find a new home. If there’s no ACC, there’s no Grant of Rights agreement.

Even if the ACC didn’t fold and continued to operate as a conference after a hypothetical situation where Clemson and Florida State left, we’re about to see an interesting precedent set for getting out of a Grant of Rights deal in the Big 12.

Texas and Oklahoma aren’t slated to join the SEC until 2025 because that’s when the Big 12’s Grant of Rights agreement runs out. But does anyone think the Longhorns and Sooners will truly wait four more seasons before playing in the SEC? Most CFB analysts don’t think that’s likely.

If Texas and Oklahoma somehow find a legal way to get out of their Grant of Rights deal– and keep in mind that seems to be the expectation among national media– what would stop Clemson and Florida State, for example, from doing the same?

All that being said, we wouldn’t say that it’s likely for Clemson football to be exiting the ACC anytime soon. The Grant of Rights agreement is in place for a reason and it’s not just a quick courtroom settlement that would have to take place to get out of it.

But crazier things can happen and that agreement– as strong as it may be– still may prove to mean almost nothing in this new era of conference realignment.