After years of lawsuits and near-implosion, ACC spring meetings offer return to stability — for now, at least

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Two years ago, the ACC’s administrators clashed behind closed doors as the conference’s future came under fire.

The very existence of the league was at stake. Seven schools were openly exploring options to exit the conference and examining how to legally break an ironclad grant of rights agreement without paying hefty exit fees. League linchpins Clemson and Florida State were serious about leaving their comrades behind to fight for scraps. Multiple lawsuits involving the ACC, FSU and Clemson were filed.

“I certainly wasn’t happy about the instability it caused,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said Wednesday. “I got it. I’m proud of how we stayed steady, stayed committed to resolving an issue.”

The ACC might as well have stood for Atlantic Coast Chaos. Not today. The conference’s annual spring meetings — which had developed into a tug-of-war over the last two years — returned to normalcy this week at the plush Ritz-Carlton along the coast in Amelia Island, Florida.

In a word, the meetings were boring. And that was a good thing.

“It was just a great three days, because we had a chance to (work) with the [faculty athletics representatives], the ADs, the [senior women administrators] and coaching groups and talk about issues going on in their sports instead of what is happening in a court room, etc.”

More from ACC spring meetings

The clouds began to part in January, when the conference extended its grant of rights agreement with ESPN through 2036. That deal paved the way for FSU and Clemson to settle four lawsuits against the ACC in March. It also proposed a shift in revenue distribution that will reward programs with higher television viewership.

But how long will the stability last? Conference…

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Author : Brandon Marcello

Publish date : 2025-05-15 10:00:00

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