Clemson Football: What happens if Clemson leaves the ACC before the Grant of Rights expires?

One of the most important aspects of conference realignment as it pertains to Clemson football is the ACC’s Grant of Rights.

The Grant of Rights (GOR) is a contract that says each ACC school, including Clemson, turns over all television media rights for the school’s sports programs to the ACC through the 2036 season. This contract is enforceable whether Clemson is in the ACC or chooses to leave, either for another conference or to be independent. The contract is simple and straightforward and doesn’t include a clause for a buyout.

Many have expressed that they don’t think Clemson could get out of the GOR. They cite it as a reason to believe that Clemson will not be leaving the ACC any time soon. They might be right, and it could be years until Clemson could possibly leave the conference.

I have taken more of a ‘middle of the road’ approach to this subject. I think Clemson could sit tight in the ACC for several years, even if there is interest from the SEC or Big Ten (which is by no means guaranteed), but I also think there may be ways that Clemson, and perhaps other ACC members, can figure out a way to leave earlier. While some think the GOR situation is simple, we really need to think it through.

What would happen if Clemson were to leave the conference before the GOR expires?

It’s too easy to just say “The ACC retains Clemson’s rights.” It isn’t going to be that simple and clean.

CYA Notice: I have read the GOR, but I’m not a lawyer, so on these subjects I’m not infallible. More precisely, I’m not educated or trained at all. Additionally, I am pretty sure the contracts between the ACC and their television partner, ESPN, are not public, and if they are, I haven’t endeavored to find them or read them. All of this you are about to read is speculation based on my very general understanding of how these things work. In other words, I might be wrong about some details. Or completely wrong. It’s still worth talking this through.

Here’s the premise: Clemson says to the ACC, “You know what, ACC? Fine, you win. You can keep our television media rights through 2036. We’re leaving anyway for the SEC. Have a nice day.”

First, it would be lunacy for the ACC to put Clemson’s rights on the shelf. It would be a good way to stick it to Clemson, but the ACC also wouldn’t be profiting from them. Second, I don’t think the ACC could put them on the shelf because the conference has a contract with ESPN granting them the rights the ACC owns. ESPN wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to produce & broadcast Clemson games, especially when the SEC also has a contract with ESPN. It’s all just paperwork on ESPN’s side of things. The end result is Clemson on ESPN, where they’ve been for years.

Here’s where it gets interesting: Clemson home games would be broadcast, and the ACC would make money from them, but they would take up ACC game slots. They wouldn’t take up SEC game slots – the SEC would never allow a game to take up one of their contracted slots if the payout for that game goes to the ACC. The SEC’s contract with ESPN is completely separate from the ACC’s contract. The Clemson rights go to ESPN via the ACC, the slots are determined by the ACC contract, so Clemson home games would be under the ACC banner, even though they (likely) wouldn’t feature even a single ACC team.

With all due respect to the ACC, there is a reason they can’t pull nearly as much television revenue as the SEC or Big Ten: their teams don’t have the same kind of marketing power. Clemson home games featuring the big brands of the SEC, like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee & LSU, are going to naturally be the most lucrative options for ESPN when choosing from the “ACC games”. Those Clemson home games are very likely to take the best time slots from games that contractually could go, or should go, to ACC teams.

Even when Clemson would host teams with less powerful football brands, like Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt, the Clemson games would still have appeal, and there is chance those matchups could even end up slotted onto the ACC Channel.

If the ACC insisted on keeping Clemson’s rights, they would have to be comfortable with ESPN throwing in the “ACC on ESPN” banner on games that feature two SEC teams, and possibly having SEC games on the ACC Channel.

From one perspective, this probably makes more money for the ACC, but I think it would be an embarrassment to the conference. Even if ESPN didn’t make it obvious with the “ACC on ESPN” label, it would probably make their constituent institutions upset that former members were taking good time slots on ESPN channels, or perhaps slots on the conference’s own network.

The dynamic changes a bit if Clemson were to leave for the Big Ten, because they have traditionally had a television deal with FOX. The Big Ten contract is being bid on right now, so the network could change to ESPN or someone else, but if they stuck with FOX, I’m not sure how ESPN would react to Big Ten Clemson games on ‘ACC on ESPN’. ESPN could love it and see it as poaching opportunities from their primary competitor, FOX Sports. Conversely, they may not want to promote a product and a league that is primarily carried by their primary competitor. I’m not sure which dynamic wins there, but the result for the ACC is the same: non-ACC matchups usurping ACC airtime.

I think the ACC wouldn’t want that, and the impact worsens if more than one team decides to leave. The GOR is a very real barrier, and I think the ACC would drive a hard bargain, but once they considered the consequences of enforcing the GOR after a program leaves, I think the conference would be open to negotiating a settlement to avoid the circumstances I’ve described.

Like most things in life, it all comes down to negotiations and the almighty dollar

It will take a good chunk of money to negotiate a buyout of the GOR if it were done now with 15 seasons left on it. It is possible that ACC teams might wait until some of the other realignment moves occur in 2024 or 2025, or even longer. It is possible they negotiate a payment plan. Perhaps $X per year through 2036. That would be beneficial to the ACC. Each year they get a payout from the former team(s) that can be included in their distribution to current members without said former team(s) taking up television airtime that could otherwise feature current ACC teams.

How much money would it take? That is what they would have to negotiate. My guess is that Clemson would be lucky if it were as low as $150 million. That would be a $10 million dollar payment each season through the end of the GOR, assuming they left right now. $200-$250 million is more likely. Even if it is $300 million, negotiated right now, it’s still only $20 million annually over the next fifteen seasons. That’s steep, but considering the payout from the SEC or Big Ten would be nearly $50 million more annually (estimated) than what ACC teams get paid, its workable.