ACC, FSU, Clemson reach revenue settlement
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Andrea Adelson
The ACC, Florida State and Clemson ended their ongoing litigation Tuesday after agreeing to a settlement that changes the league’s revenue distribution model and significantly reduces exit penalties for members wanting to leave the conference before 2036.
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips thanked all parties for their “patience and dedication” in getting a deal done, solidifying the conference for the near future.
“Today’s resolution begins the next chapter of this storied league and further solidifies the ACC as a premier conference,” Phillips said in a statement. “As we look ahead to our collective long-term future, I want to express my deepest appreciation to the ACC Board of Directors for its ongoing leadership, patience and dedication throughout this process. The league has competed at the highest level for more than 70 years and this new structure demonstrates the ACC embracing innovation and further incentivizing our membership based on competition and viewership results.
“The settlements, coupled with the ACC’s continued partnership with ESPN, allow us to focus on our collective future — including Clemson and Florida State — united in an 18-member conference demonstrating the best in intercollegiate athletics.”
Shortly after the ACC board approved the move, the boards of trustees for Florida State and Clemson approved the settlement terms. Clemson athletic director Graham Neff told his board the settlement is “consistent with the objectives we set out with initially” with its lawsuit against the conference.
“The ACC is an excellent fit for Clemson,” Neff said. “The academic prestige and reputation we so emphasize here at Clemson is a natural fit with other members of the ACC. The historic football success the league has had and that Clemson has had in the ACC and access to the College Football Playoff currently — this is a great home for Clemson.”
Both schools filed lawsuits against the ACC in their home states challenging the grant of rights agreement, that, according to Florida State’s attorneys, could have meant paying as much as $700 million to leave the conference. The ACC sued both schools to preserve the grant of rights agreement through 2036.
As a result of the settlement, the penalty to leave the conference has been significantly reduced. The grant of rights remains in place through 2036, but beginning next year, the exit fee will be $165 million. That fee then declines by $18 million per year, leveling at $75 million in 2030-31. Any team that pays the exit fee can leave with its media rights intact.
Currently, any school that wants to leave before June 2036 must pay three times the operating budget — a figure that would be about $120 million — plus control of that team’s media rights through the conclusion of the grant of rights.
The timing of the exit penalty reduction is significant. Television deals for the Big Ten (2029-30), Big 12 (2030) and the next iteration of the College Football Playoff (2031) come up for renewal just as that fee goes down to $75 million.
The new revenue distribution model, or “brand initiative,” will be based on a five-year rolling average. Sixty percent of total ACC television revenue will go toward this initiative. More weight will be given to more recent viewership. A team’s total viewership will then be divided by the total ACC viewership to equal its percentage of the money available in this pool. The other 40 percent of the television revenue will be distributed evenly among all league schools.
Florida State athletic director Michael Alford brought forward a similar proposal to reward teams that rate well on television to the ACC Board in February 2023 but there was no support for the move at that time.
“We started this path on what was best for not only FSU but for the conference and this really incentivizes everyone in our conference to have the opportunity to go out and choose a path,” Alford said. “That’s all we ever asked for, was for the opportunity for us to compete nationally amongst our peers, and it’s also going to make the league better.”
Clemson began pushing for changes to the revenue distribution model after is six straight CFP appearances, believing teams should be rewarded for athletic success. Florida State pushed for the changes, too, and in 2023 the ACC adopted the first of its revenue distribution changes with “success initiatives,” giving more money to teams that do well in football and men’s and women’s basketball.
With the success initiatives and brand initiative now in place, Neff told his board that Clemson will have an opportunity to earn an additional $120 million over six years. That number does not include potential College Football Playoff money. Every ACC team that makes the playoff earns $4 million for a first-round appearance; $8 million for a second-round appearance; $14 million for a semifinal appearance and $20 million to make the national championship game.
Clemson has had the highest viewership in the ACC over the past six years while Florida State consistently ranks in the Top 4. Those are not the only two schools that stand to earn more money, though. Last season, for example, Georgia Tech led the ACC in viewership thanks in part to a Week 0 game against Florida State and a seven-overtime thriller against Georgia on the final Friday of the regular season.
Basketball ratings will be included in the brand initiative, too, but at a smaller rate than football, which is responsible for about 75% of the league’s TV revenue.
“At the end of the day, this innovative distribution model, which further incentivizes performance and investment, will help strengthen the ACC — and a strong ACC is good for Clemson; and a strong Clemson is good for the ACC — while providing future flexibility to adapt to changes we should anticipate within the collegiate model,” Neff said.
Florida State sued the ACC first, in December 2023, over increasing frustrations over a widening revenue gap between the SEC and Big Ten and its belief the ACC was not doing enough to solve the problem. Clemson then sued the league in March 2024.
Though neither school ever declared their intention to leave the conference, Florida State was far more vocal about the looming issues it saw with a shifting collegiate landscape. President Richard McCullough, board chair Peter Collins and several board members publicly questioned whether staying in the ACC long-term was sustainable without a radical shift in the revenue distribution model.
Now Florida State has that shift it had been wanting, and it believes all league schools stand to benefit.
“We had to do something, and it had to be a positive outcome for Florida State,” Collins said. “We’re way better off than where we were 14 months ago, when we were being told we had no options. Now, we have options and we have a good fit. This is going to make the conference better. I think it’s going to incentivize people in the conference to really invest.”
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Greg Wyshynski
Ken Holland, who won four Stanley Cups as an executive with the Detroit Red Wings, is expected to become the next general manager of the Los Angeles Kings, multiple NHL sources told ESPN on Monday, confirming a report.
Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 2020, Holland replaces Rob Blake, the Kings’ general manager and vice president of hockey operations whose contract was not renewed after a fourth straight first-round playoff exit.
An announcement is expected later this week. Rod Pedersen, host of “The Rod Pedersen Show,” first reported the news.
Holland, 69, was the executive vice president and general manager of the Red Wings from 1997 through 2019, winning four Stanley Cups for the franchise. He was bumped upstairs in 2019 to senior vice president, clearing the way for Steve Yzerman to become the team’s general manager.
That promotion lasted only a month, as Holland left to take over the Edmonton Oilers as general manager and president of hockey operations. Powered by stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the team made the conference finals in 2022 and 2024, losing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last year with a roster Holland constructed. Among his key acquisitions were forward Zach Hyman (free agent) and defensemen Mattias Ekholm (via trade with Nashville) and Philip Broberg (drafted eighth in 2019). The Oilers made the playoffs in all five seasons of Holland’s tenure.
Holland’s five-year contract with the Oilers expired on July 1, 2024. Edmonton eventually hired former Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman to replace him. Since then, Holland had been working as a consultant to the NHL’s hockey operations department.
Sources told ESPN that Holland had been considering a front office role with the New York Islanders, either as team president, general manager or both. Former Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, a senior adviser for the Kings who many believed might be their next general manager, is in the mix for the Islanders’ openings.
Kings president Luc Robitaille played for Holland’s Red Wings from 2001-2003, winning his only Stanley Cup as a player in 2002. He will now reconnect with Holland, who will take over a Kings roster that features holdovers from their Stanley Cup wins in 2012 and 2014 (Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty), scorers in their prime (Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala), young players on the rise (Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke) and goalie Darcy Kuemper, who was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy this season.
But Los Angeles has failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs since 2014. The Kings have lost four straight first-round series to the Oilers — conveniently, Holland’s former team — including their six-game defeat this postseason.
Holland will now determine the fate of Jim Hiller, who finished his first season as Kings head coach after serving on an interim basis in 2023-24. Hiller was an assistant coach with the Red Wings for one season (2014-15) during Holland’s time in Detroit.
RALEIGH, N..C. — The Carolina Hurricanes twice found their two-goal margin halved in the third period of their latest playoff game with the Washington Capitals.
Each time they found a prompt response.
And that pushed the Hurricanes to within a win of the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in three seasons.
Taylor Hall scored on a breakaway chance roughly three minutes after the Washington Capitals scored their first goal, then Sean Walker added one minutes after NHL all-time goals leader Alex Ovechkin struck with a 5-on-3 one-timer. Those kept the Hurricanes in control on the way to a 5-2 win Monday night, securing a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven second-round series.
“We get an individual effort, and that’s really what those were, good plays,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “But burying it, finishing your chances at a crucial time in the game. … Both of those goals were huge for us.”
Both Hall and Walker finished with two points, with Walker getting the second assist on Hall’s score and Hall returning the favor by springing Walker’s surge up the ice on the way to his first career postseason goal. But the timing of the goals stood out, with each blunting the momentum of a Washington team that had been shutout for five straight periods going back to Saturday’s 4-0 loss in Game 3.
Carolina carried a 2-0 lead into the third before Jakob Chychrun beat Frederik Andersen on a feed from Matt Roy after Roy had denied Carolina’s chance to clear the zone. That score came at the 5:18 mark of the third to add a jolt of tension rippling through the Lenovo Center after Carolina had kept a firm grip on the game to that point.
But Hall — acquired in January in the blockbuster deal that brought in Mikko Rantanen as the headliner — made a veteran read to blunt that momentum.
After being knocked to the ice in the offensive zone, Hall was getting up as the Capitals pushed the puck toward the other end. But as Hall got to center ice, he was alone — Washington coach Spencer Carbery said the defense lost track of Hall behind the forecheck and were too deep in the zone — and the Hurricanes were on the verge of collecting the puck as it went around the end wall.
So Hall turned in back toward the blue line, straddling it long enough to stay onside until Jack Roslovic‘s long pass arrived to spring the breakaway chance.
“Yeah, everyone’s asking me if I was cheating for offense,” Hall said, adding; “I thought it was just something to try.”
Hall skated in and beat Logan Thompson to the glove side at the 8:24 mark, pushing the margin back to 3-1.
“It’s a read, we had possession of the puck,” Brind’Amour said. “So that’s actually a good play by him.”
The Capitals again kept the pressure on with Ovechkin’s blast past Andersen on a two-man advantage at the 12:14 mark, dampening the rowdy zeal in Carolina’s home arena. But that’s when Hall and Walker teamed up for the goal that would reassert control.
It started on a puck battle and the unusual sight of Washington’s Rasmus Sandin skating in to get the puck from Walker, only to get the blade of his stick stuck in a gap along the boards. Walker got to his feet as Hall collected the puck, then flipped a pass to Walker as he charged up the left side.
Walker hesitated to cut inside Roslovic toward the slot and beat Thompson at the 16:45 mark, pushing the lead back to 4-2 in what became a backbreaking score.
“I feel like they were backchecking really hard, so I kind of just read that,” Walker said. “Tried to be patient. Once I stepped inside, I felt like I had a good lane so I shot it, and just happy it went in.”
Ovechkin’s blast got the NHL’s career goals leader on the scoresheet for the first time this series. Thompson finished with 32 saves.
“We’re giving ourselves some opportunities, we’re just not executing, making the play, whatever you want to call it,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “And making some mistakes — and they’re capitalizing.”
To that point, the Eastern Conference’s top seed got a quick start after a Game 3 shutout, starting with Connor McMichael getting a 1-on-1 chance on Andersen in the opening minute. Aliaksei Protas followed by ringing the right post shortly after.
Washington also managed only one shot on goal during a 4-minute power play, the first 3½ minutes of those coming to close the first period.
“Their penalty kill is excellent, best in the league, has been for the last, whatever, five years call it,” Carbery said. “But it can’t look like that. It cannot look like that.”
Andrei Svechnikov added the empty-net clincher less than a minute later to deny Washington’s bid to retake home-ice advantage, the capper to Carolina’s steady response amid growing third-period danger.
“I think that’s something that’s really important, especially this time of year,” Walker said. “You’ve got to answer when teams are making their push.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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