One ACC School Has A Bold Plan To Deal With Financial Fallout Of Joining A ‘Superconference’

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• One ACC football program is already gearing up for the potential ramifications of defecting to the Big 10 or SEC
• The unnamed school is reportedly willing to try its luck in court as it weighs the benefits of joining a “superconference” against the financial penalties that would come with leaving
• The ACC can reportedly fine teams around $50 million for violating the “grant of rights” agreement that lasts until 2026

It’s been around a year since the NCAA abruptly changed its long-standing stance concerning the name, image, and likeness deals that have dramatically transformed the landscape of college athletics thanks to the life-changing money plenty of high-profile players have managed to make from the endorsement deals that have sparked a ton of controversy since they started getting handed out last summer.

Many people have asserted that policy change essentially marked the end of college sports as we know them thanks to the dramatic impact it’s had on parity—especially when it comes to football. Now, that reality has become even harder to deny courtesy of USC and UCLA, as the two schools sent shockwaves across the country last week when they announced they’ll be defecting from the Pac-12 and joining the Big Ten.

That development sparked a veritable stampede as other programs quickly scrambled to put themselves in a position to survive an impending tsunami of conference realignments that many people have theorized could lead to the creation of a couple of superconferences consisting of at least 20 teams in the form of the Big Ten and the SEC.

It’s been almost impossible to keep track of the various rumors concerning which schools are next in line to make the jump since the news broke. There have been a number of reports that suggest the SEC could be trying to poach some members of the ACC, which currently remains intact thanks in no small part to the financial ramifications schools would be subjected to for leaving.

Those penalties stem from the “grant of rights” agreement that every ACC program has agreed to until 2036, and any team that violates the contract would reportedly be subjected to an exit fee to the tune of around $50 million (which could theoretically be canceled out by the increased media revenue they’d ultimately take home by joining a superconference).

However, as The Athletic points out, there may be a few legal strategies schools can deploy in an attempt to soften the blow—and it would appear one unnamed institution is ready to explore them.

On Tuesday, Josh Pate relayed what he was told by someone affiliated with an unidentified ACC school concerning the potential fallout of fleeing the conference.

At first glance, “We’ll figure out it in court” seems like a fairly bold strategy to harness. However, you have to imagine that approach stems from a fairly exhaustive cost-benefit analysis, and it’s safe to assume the financial windfall that would accompany a move to another conference would make it much easier to deal with any potential legal headaches.

I guess we’ll just have to wait to find out if that’s the case.