Is Clemson leaving the ACC? Exploring why the Tigers want a move away from the Atlantic
It seems like the Clemson Tigers have found a potential way out of the ACC and the Grant of Rights that have been keeping them in. In 2013, the ACC got new members as it was expanding and decided to ask its members to sign a document called the "Grant of Rights".
In simple terms, this meant that the ACC would own the broadcast rights to all of its member schools’ home games. The agreement runs until 2036 and basically secures that the schools are stuck until that time. Back in May, it was reported by Yahoo Sports Ross Dellenger that several schools, including Clemson and Florida State, were meeting with lawyers to explore the feasibility of leaving. This was confirmed by Brett McMurphy at the time.
The rumor mill has started turning once again. Gene Sapakoff, of the Post and Courier, published a story this Wednesday in which an unnamed Clemson official is quoted as saying the following when asked if the school could be about to make an announcement on leaving their conference:
"Stay very tuned... Sooner than later."
Immediately, experts started wondering what could have changed regarding the Clemson situation from a few months ago. Marc Ryan of CBS Sports Radio gave a possible explanation. Clemson must have found a way out of the Grant of Rights.
Per Ryan, they are attempting a strength-in-numbers approach as a way to break free of the ACC. North Carolina, Florida State, Miami, and Georgia Tech were mentioned as other schools trying to break away, while it was reported that Clemson and Florida State reached out to the SEC for membership.
ACC Expansion: Survival
On September 1, the ACC voted to welcome three new schools with Stanford, California, and SMU joining the conference. The deal was made by carving the corpse of the Pac-12 and removing two out of four schools that made that storied conference.
Stanford and Cal were left gasping for air as their conference imploded, with USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado joining the Big Ten, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah going to the Big 12. For the better part of August, they were left searching for a new home until they found it in the ACC.
For its part, the SMU Mustangs were long searching for entrance into a Power Five conference, and they jumped in with the California schools to get the best chance at it.
At the time, people were left thinking this only spelled doom for the Pac-12, which was left only with Oregon State and Washington State. But now, in hindsight, this is a deal that will potentially save their new conference, if the news of Clemson leaving gets confirmed and other departures that might follow it.