ACC-Maryland exit fee suit could stall power conference realignment

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The lawyers will find a resolution. Maryland and Rutgers will be here in 2014.

Next big domino is the Big East/Mountain West battle for Boise State. If Boise is smart they'll stay in the Mountain West. MWC will be a better football and basketball conference once all the changes are finalized.

Once Big East demise is imminent, UConn and Cincinnati will jump ship. SEC seems like a good fit for those two, and both certainly would help the SEC basketball brand. It's not like the SEC football brand needs any help.
 

SelectionSunday said:
The lawyers will find a resolution. Maryland and Rutgers will be here in 2014.

Next big domino is the Big East/Mountain West battle for Boise State. If Boise is smart they'll stay in the Mountain West. MWC will be a better football and basketball conference once all the changes are finalized.

Once Big East demise is imminent, UConn and Cincinnati will jump ship. SEC seems like a good fit for those two, and both certainly would help the SEC basketball brand. It's not like the SEC football brand needs any help.
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Damn right about Boise State. They're pretty important to both the Big East and MWC. Maybe not as important as they THINK they are though. Negotiations with them supposedly revolve around Boise State's demands to KEEP their Football revenue? ;) Wonder if either Conference is dumb enough to consider that.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...oncos-retain-home-tv-rights-according-sources

Why should the SEC schools dilute their money by adding Cincy or UConn? They won't bring much or anything to the table TV Wise. Basketball is meaningless in all this ironically enough because of March Madness. All that money goes to the NCAA and it completely dilutes their Non-Conference season. Very minor Bowl Games have been getting better ratings than pretty good basketball match-ups.

Hope you're right about Maryland. SI agrees with you if it helps:

5. Whether more realignment happens at the highest level will depend on a court in North Carolina. The schools at the Big East/Conference USA/Mountain West level will continue to play musical chairs because that's what they do, but we're talking about the big-money leagues here. The ACC sued Maryland in court in Guilford County to ensure the school will pay all of the league-mandated $50 million buyout before it leaves for the Big Ten. These liquidated damages clauses are notoriously difficult to enforce because the aggrieved party (the ACC) must prove it was actually damaged. (And considering ACC officials sang the praises of new 14th member Louisville less than a week after Maryland announced its move, proving that might be tough.)
This is why the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12 have Grant of Rights agreements that bind them together. Schools must pledge their television rights to the league for the length of their media deal. If a school leaves, the league retains the ability to sell the television rights for that school's home games. One former conference bigwig described the Grant of Rights this way recently: "It's like telling someone they can marry my wife, but I'm the only one allowed to sleep with her." Why didn't the ACC do that? Because all the schools wouldn't agree to it. In fact, Maryland and Florida State voted against the $50 million buyout. If that buyout isn't upheld or Maryland is allowed to negotiate it down to a much smaller number, then Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany will essentially have a green light to try to poach two more schools in large, untapped-by-the-Big Ten television markets. The fate of the ACC would be in Delany's hands. If he grabbed two ACC schools, the SEC likely would follow suit. If the Big 12 felt insecure about only having 10 members, it might also join the fray. If the buyout holds at $50 million, then the incentive for anyone else to leave drops considerably.


Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/co...lege-football-predictions-2013/#ixzz2GMM8aLsA
 

Yes, I will be surprised if either the Big East or MWC cow-tow to Boise State's demand for their own TV rights. But I don't blame Boise State for trying. Everyone else is making a cash grab, why shouldn't they?
 

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