Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - SEC NOT Interested In Florida State And Clemson | Sponsor Patches Coming To CFB? | Keeping TV Secret

Episode Date: May 31, 2024

Are the SEC playing a risky game by reportedly passing on Florida State and Clemson? Brett McMurphy from Action Network said this week that he expects FSU and Clemson to eventually land in the Big Ten. He added that the SEC is not interested because they already have the Florida market with the Gators and the South Carolina market with the Gamecocks. But is it a smart move to allow the Big Ten and FOX to swoop in and grab two of the most prominent programs in the Southeast? Big changes are coming to college football as programs will need to generate more revenue in order to manage about $30 million per season in expenses for the House vs NCAA settlement. The NCAA will meet next week to discuss the option of adding corporate sponsor logos to football fields and maybe even sponsor patches onto jerseys. Hosts Alex Donno and Kenton Gibbs discuss why many college football fans will be turned off by this idea, but it’s a relatively benign change that could generate millions in revenue. Donno and Gibbs discuss why the Big Ten, SEC, and Big 12 are supporting the ACC in their quest to keep the ESPN television contract private due to trade secrets. Will this hurt FSU’s case against the ACC?Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. eBay MotorsFrom brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Florida State and Clemson are two of the most prominent athletic programs in the southeast. Yet supposedly the southeastern conference doesn't want them. Why? You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Shout out to the everydayers for making Locked on ACC your first listen and your first watch today. We're free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

On this episode, we will talk about the issue that has oddly caused the SEC, Big 10 and Big 12 to stand up for the ACC, why that's happening. We will talk about what I feel like is an inevitability that we're going to start seeing corporate logos and sponsor patches in college football. A lot of you will hate it, but I'll tell you why. We will tell you why it's definitely going to happen. But first, we have to talk about it. this SEC stuff with Florida State and Clemson.

And, Kent, I don't really bring this up in a manner of like trying to troll FSU and Clemson. That's not my intention here because I do think that they're probably both going to end up in the Big Ten. The question is when. But I was listening to this interview that's been making the rounds. Brett McMurphy from Action Network, who's one of the most plugged in college football reporters out there.

He's a very reliable source for information. He was on the Paul Finebaum show, and he said about FSU and Clemson, they're going to leave. It's not if, it's when. But then he said as soon as they do reach a settlement and there is a number established for Florida State and Clemson to exit, then that opens the door for other schools to leave. That's why the ACC is fighting this to the bitter end. He says the North Carolina schools, the Virginia schools, he says certainly the SEC would have interest talking about the Carolina and Virginia schools, but he says, I don't think they have interest in Florida state or Clemson because they've already got Florida and South Carolina. And honestly,

and again, I'm not saying Brett McMurvey is wrong, but that's very odd to me, Kent, and again, because, okay, you can understand maybe the point of view of a lot of the schools within the SEC. It's like, you know, we don't need these other prominent programs to compete with for recruits. Now, Scott Strickland, the Florida athletic director, claims he would be okay with. with bringing in FSU if it came. I don't believe him, but he did claim that as the case. You know, maybe if you ask people within the South Carolina program, they might claim they're okay bringing in Clemson.

I doubt that. So you can maybe understand why certain members wouldn't want to bring in Florida State and Clemson. But if you look at this from the point of view of the greater good of the SEC and also ESPN's point of view, because they compete directly with the Big Ten with Fox, why would you just kind of allow, like throw Florida State and Clemson, into the arms of the Big Ten and allow the Big Ten to expand their footprint right into your territory.

And that's the southeast of the United States where the Big Ten currently is not. So, you know, I'm going to ask you this. Are you a fairly odd parents watcher? Are you a fairly odd parents watcher? No, heard of it. Never watched it. I figured. I figured as much.

Well, I'm going to help all our younger viewers right now. Do you think that if Mr. Turner, Timmy's dad was offered the opportunity to spurn Dinkleberg in his moment of greatest despair? You think he'd turn it down? For my older viewers here, you'd think if the Hatfields had the opportunity to hurt the McCoys in a way that the McCoys had never been hurt before? You think they'd turn that down? These schools right now, I don't think people realize how big of a deal this is. And I'm going to hope for the sake of FSU and Clemson, because even though they're leaving, I've never been one of those vengeful exits. That's never been me.

I've been a hey, best of luck to you, baby, girl. I hope you get all the best in life. I clearly want the best for you type of guy. And I'm going to say the same thing for these two. If this situation works out that the SEC doesn't want them, watch this dynamic, Dono. There are four power conferences, correct? Yes. Okay, so let's go down the list.

Okay, we'll go by alphabetical order. A.C. Correct? Yeah. Then you have the Big Ten who is a potential suitor for you, correct? Correct. And then you have the Big 12

who's set to make less than the ACC, correct? That is correct. And then you have the SEC who will be saying, I don't want your behind, correct? Correct. Apparently, yeah. So that leaves you with one potential suitor. I don't know if y'all know how this works or not. But if this is true, which I truly, again, I'm hoping it's not for the sake of FSU and Clemson,

if this is true, the Big Ten is going to get them on the sweetest of sweetheart deals because there's nowhere else for them to go. There's nobody who can provide the type of money that they are looking for. And guess what? After you severed the relationship with the ACC, you can't go back to them for the same money. You maybe could go over to the Big 12 for the same money, but congratulations.

You just spent tens of millions of dollars in lawyer fees for a lateral move. So you're left going to the Big Ten for whatever scraps they give you above what the Big 12 could offer. If the SEC doesn't want these schools, and again, I really hope they do because that adds to the bidding war, that adds to getting these schools more. revenue, getting them what they want in the end, and maybe one of them goes to SEC, one goes Big Ten, maybe both go SEC, maybe both go Big Ten.

I don't know. But at least in that scenario where the SEC is interested, it gives these schools a position of strength. It gives them the ability as a recruiter when the candidate comes to me and says, hey, Ken, I've got an offer from Microsoft for X amount of money. You've got to jump to match a little bit. You may not have to match it dime for dime, but you got to jump a little bit. we jump to meet it if we think they're that valuable.

But if they have nothing on the table, if they don't have a pot to piss in or window to throw it out of in terms of other potential suitors, you're going to take what we're offering you because we're the only ones offering anything. I just think that the whole thing, the whole thing is odd, right? Because I look at it from the SEC's perspective.

And maybe I just have to redefine the way, the ways that I try to understand the business of college football. Because if I look at things in a vacuum, right, where Brett McMurphy says, like, he thinks the SEC would be interested in Virginia and North Carolina, not interested in Clemson and FSU. Like, I just look at it as a college football fan and say, like, wouldn't it be the opposite? Like, wouldn't you be more interested in what Clemson and Florida State bring to the table? So I guess there really is a strong notion here that if we already have a presence in state X, Y, or Z,

that it's more value to us because, yeah, right now, the SEC, they're not in the state of North Carolina. They're not in the state of Virginia. I guess if I take what McMurton, McMurphy, again, trustworthy reporter, if I take what he says at face value, then I guess everything I know about college football is not necessarily right, because I guess they just feel like having a footprint in certain TV markets is more valuable than having actual programs that theoretically bring more value to the table in a vacuum. Yeah, and again, you know, I would hate, I would hate, hate, hate, hate to find out that these schools really are being that petty just to deny their rivals one more time. I would hate to find out that Florida is looking at Florida State like, oh, you want upies?

You want us to come pick you up? You want us to come help you out a little bit? No. Oh, look at you, Clemson. Oh, you need help over there. You need, oh, you all don't want to use the portal and you need a little bit of help making more money? No, it's not happening. If those schools banded together and did not vote to expand for these two,

who we, this would be the worst moment in I believe either one of these programs history. And don't get me wrong, there was a, there was, there have been some dark things in these, universities histories. And for this to be the worst, yikes, but it really would be, Dono, because you would have spent tens of millions of dollars to not make back those tens of millions of dollars to have the big 10 have the power potentially to say actually you're going to come in at a reduced rate and that's just what it is because these schools with all the respect i don't think that clemson has the juice and clout to function as an independent florida state possibly i i think it would be extremely difficult i think literally the only team

that has the cloud to do it is the only one that's doing it i don't know if one out right right if not or dame can do it and that's why i said i think it's a possibility i think it's in realm of possibility maybe if Florida State gets a bunch of strokes of dumb luck all at once. I don't think Clemson is even in that ballpark. And again, for Florida State, it would take a lot of luck to get you there. So at that point in time, you're stuck up the creek without a paddle. And that's not where you want to be. Now, I think that's really, really well said. Now, just to take, you know, what you were talking about with like, and I brought it up about, you know, Florida and South Carolina, you know,

not wanting to bring in Florida State and Clemson, even though the Florida athletic director did say, I don't believe him, but he did say, oh, no, we love our friends in Tallahassee. By the way, Florida fans were mad that he referred to them as his friends, which was a whole another thing. They were trolling him for that. But even like, they would have to form alliances to block it because you, no one has veto power. The way, the way it was explained this week is, you know, when if the SEC were to vote on an expansion candidate, it would take more than a simple majority, but 12 out of 16 would have to vote in favor. So, you know, you do the math.

It would take more than one or two to block anyone from entering. But I find it fascinating. But yeah. At that point, you need two more in your alliance. Because if Florida and South Carolina have band this together and said, we're not voting in, regardless of what happens, hold the line. Two right there. Let them starve on the vine.

All you need is two or what, three more. All you need is three more at that point to veto this thing. And I don't think that that's very hard to do if you know you're looking at a situation where you're saying, hey Vanderbilt, you're already about to, like, you're on the, you're barely in here now. Right. I'm sorry to tell you. They, you real close to them saying Vanderbilt's got a weird case. Why is he around?

You need to protect yourself by not allowing them in. hey, Texas and them. With the addition of Texas in Oklahoma, you do realize that we're now in the Texas market. And they just showed they don't care about your brand side. They care about are you or are you not in a place where we already have people? And we've got the biggest brand in Texas coming. I'm just saying I think about voting them no unless you want to get demoted back down to the Big 12.

I don't know. I don't know. You know, and then, of course, there are a couple other schools that you can swing and sway a certain way, hey, DeBoers down to Alabama, you know, Nick Saban just left. Do you want to go from being the big dogs on the block to potentially having two more schools

that could jump you? And one of those schools could potentially not bring enough money in terms of people not wanting to view Clemson if they keep on this downward trajectory because they're anti-portal? I'm just saying, hear me out, player.

Next thing you know, you're cooked. You're cooked off of four or five basic conversations. I really, really hope this isn't true. I really hope the SEC is interested. And I'm not joking when I said that. I'm not being the slightest bit for seasons. I hope so because again, I hope that these two schools get a good landing spot. I would hate to see the decay of these two programs in essence because they made a very poorly calculated move to leave. And I don't think it was a poorly calculated move. I just think that this would be one of the most anarchal moments in college sports history, in all of sports history, honestly. Yeah, well, it also,

It makes me wonder if maybe like the behind the scenes, you know, not tampering negotiations got so advanced with the Big Ten that the SEC just knew. They're not coming here. So let's, we might as well say we don't want them. Like, you didn't dump me. You're not ending it. I'm ending it. So maybe something like that happened.

But hopefully. I want to talk about the next step that college football is going to take to becoming even more corporate. I'm okay with it. I'd love to hear Kenton's take. I know a lot of you out there. traditionalists who are holding on to that last thread of amateurism are absolutely going to hate this.

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Alex Dono alongside Kenton Gibbs. We are locked on ACCC. All right. So Kenton, something that is going to be discussed next week, the NCAA Rules Committee is meeting. And so this story was actually brought up in the SEC meetings that are happening this week. And NCAA rule meetings are happening next week. And it seems like there is full support, if not unanimous support within the SEC.

and I would imagine the other power conferences and making this happen. So they're going to be talking next week about putting corporate logos on football fields, right, on game day Saturdays and potentially even putting corporate sponsor patches on jerseys. I don't think it'll be like the big ones you see in soccer games. I think it'll be more like the ones you see on NBA jerseys that are up in the top corner. Now, I understand, Kenton, a lot of people are going to hear. this and they are going to hate it. They're going to yell and scream. Honestly, the way that I look at it, I embrace this, okay? I embrace it because I know and you know what sort of revenue these major programs are going to have to make up in order to pay that extra settlement money that's going

to come with the House versus NCAA settlement, which is just about approved now. And look, I remember a few years ago when they talked about and they did it, adding the sponsorship patches on on NBA jerseys. I remember there was a huge outcry of negativity about that. And then Kenton, the patches have been on these jerseys for like four years in the NBA.

Nobody notices them anymore. It's not a big deal. It's extra revenue these teams are generating. And yeah, a lot of your favorite college football programs are going to need that extra revenue more than these NBA teams do. Yes. And let me say this. Donno, I know that you were a little too old to catch

fairy eye parents as like part of your prime cartoon watching but i know that wutain was part of your rotation when you started listening to music heavily so let's channel our inner uh inner routine because cash rules everything around me cream get the money dollar dollar bills y'all and that's what this is coming down to these teams are going to be receiving more money which they're going to need they're going to need to balance those budgets in order to pay this 20 million plus or the estimated what was it 17 to 22 potentially to these players. They're going to have to find a way to come up with that money. And if that money comes from having cheer wine on your jersey,

if that money comes from having Turo on your jersey, if that money comes from having Match.com on your jersey, then so the hell what. Okay, somebody said that I was going to have Farmers Only.com. I cried laughing. But the reality is simple. The reality is simple. I'm telling you, as sure as the sun rises on the east and sets on the west,

if I dropped off an extra expense that we already calculated went from as low as like, what was it, 15% to 33% increase in your bills, you'll be doing whatever you need to make money too. If McDonald said that your son had to get the Goldaarchist tattooed on his left shoulder, you might think about it, not saying I'm guaranteeing you do it, but you'll consider it. So with that being said, this is a moment where it's not a big deal. This doesn't challenge the integrity of the game. It isn't giving anybody an unfair advantage or disadvantage.

It's something that's weird. It's going to be an eyesore for all of two minutes. And then after that, who's staring at the 30-yard line anyway? You watch football. You're not watching the 30 saying, that's a pristine three. That's a pristine zero right there. I love it. I love it.

I love how wide those have. Ash marks are. It's just clean with nothing there. Nobody cares. Nobody cares. And you shouldn't care now. Let these players get paid. Let these universities get paid. It's an inevitability. In the words of Thanos, it is inevitable. Okay? It is inevitable. Go ahead and just enjoy it. Yeah. And it's like, you know, people don't complain as often as they probably should about the fact when you're watching a college football game, every three minutes there's a commercial break. Hey now. Hey now. You're cutting to a commercial. That's the real deal.

That's the real deal that I hate. Yeah, no, for sure. And so here is some figures according to On Three Sports as to actually how much revenue can be generated by these things that we're talking about, which is more than I would have expected, actually. So according to those with knowledge in the space, field logos on the 25-yard line are expected to fetch at least $1 million annually for an SEC program. So probably, you know, a little less for the ACC, a little less than that for the Big 12. but maybe a million annually for an SEC program jersey patches could be upward of five million per season or more. If you're talking about needing to bridge or budget an extra, you know, 22 million per season, and you can get a free five just for putting, you know, Wish.com on the corner of your jerseys.

You jump at that opportunity. I'm sorry. I can live with this. Let me get back to another time. That's a little beyond your prime, Donno. In the words of Chingy, give me what you got for a pork, child. If you're going to give me $6 million to put a little patch here and a little something on the field, put what? In the words of Lawrence Taylor in any given Sunday, I get on the tree and shake like a coconut if you need me to for that kind of money.

What are we discussing here? This is a non-issue. This is a non-if your teams have the opportunity, even if we took both of those down 20% for the ACC, we pretend that the ACC is 20% less valuable. that then takes you down from a million to 800,000, that then takes you down from 5 million to 4 million. You're looking at $4,800,000. Wow. Just for a little patch, a little patch,

and something on the 30, and you're going to sit here and play around and act like, oh, it's so much of an honest. I don't even think fans would be delusional enough for this one. And don't get me wrong, I've been on that weird, wacky thing called Beyonce's internet. I have seen that people hate everything. I get it.

I understand. I understand that there are purists who hate everything and everything needs to stay how it always was. But that's not how it goes, okay? Like Harry Stilesenham said, I know it's not the same as it was, but guess what? It's today.

And let me quote one more artist before I kick it back to you. Fat Joe said it best, and we need to go about Fat Joe's words. Yesterday's price is not today's price. It's not today. Would it cost to run an athletic department, would it cost to fund football teams back when you started watching football, when the wing tee and a flex bowl were all the rage,

that is not what we're looking at in 2024. So let's be happy that everybody is finding a way to pay these players without getting into private equity and some of these other things. that could be potentially deleterious to your universities later on down the line. Well, coming up next, the issue that has actually caused the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12, to stand with the ACC. This is an odd one, and I think everybody except maybe Florida State fans will be happy to hear about this. You want to keep it locked right here on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC.

Okay, so we've talked quite a bit about, you know, the ongoing lawsuit. FSU versus the ACC, Clemson versus the ACC. And one of the big issues, and oh, the attorney general from my home state, Florida, Ashley Moody, is also suing the ACC.

And on the sues. She wants, yeah, she wants the grant of rights to become public record. The, that the T, well, not even the grant of rights, the TV deal, I should say, between ESPN and the ACC.

She wants that to become public record. And, enough or maybe not so oddly, even though they're not in the ESPN family, the Big 10 with Fox, the SEC and the Big 12 are actually uniting with the ACC. So this came through court filings on Wednesday of this week in response to a complaint by Florida AG Ashley Moody last month. Moody accused the ACC of breaking Florida's public records law by not providing a copy of the league's TV contracts with ESPN. Those documents are potentially relevant in the ongoing dueling lawsuits between Florida State and the ACC. The ACC SEC, SEC, Big 10 and Big 12 all argued in Leon County Circuit Court records that the documents must remain confidential to protect trade secrets.

Now, I just want people to know, I don't know how much this could actually, you know, hurt Florida State's case because they've already worked out a deal in South Carolina where, like, they can make the document available, like, privately. to people involved in the court case. Maybe there might be a few things redacted. I don't know, but they're not making it public record. So maybe they can come to an agreement like that in Florida, where, you know, the judge can take a look at it. Maybe Florida state's lawyers can take a look at it without making it public record. Because honestly, I understand both sides, Kenton.

Obviously, I understand from Florida state standpoint. And, you know, the AG is protecting, you know, state institution there. She's standing up for them. Why to help your, yeah, why to help your. case, you would want that document to be out there for everyone to see. But I can absolutely understand if you're ESPN, if you're Fox, because Fox doesn't want this precedent to be set, I'm sure, you don't want your broadcast and trade secrets to be out there. And like, you know, every network has stuff like that. I mean, our network locked on has a proprietary way of the way that they do

things that they don't want, you know, people reading that are outside of the company and blabbering about the same way with ESPN and Fox, I'm sure. Yeah, and that's, my thing is this, I completely, me and you are on lockstep in this one because I get both sides of it. However, to me, it shouldn't be a matter of public court, public opinion deal. It should be we are all in this lawsuit. We know exactly what's going on. We have deep detail of what's going on.

And of course, when everybody in the lawsuit knows, you know how they say the moon landing couldn't be fake because the amount of people who would need. to keep that secret is too high. We all know. If you make those documents privately available in that courtroom, there will be a leak. Somebody, somewhere in the process. I can't tell you how much the number is. But if you believe that there's a $30 million range, I'm pointing upwards for those of you

who are listening and not watching on YouTube, you may be wrong. if you believe that the grant of rights holds teams in for 12 years regardless, you may be correct, you may be wrong. I can't tell you what I'm just nodding my head for no reason at all right now, but teams are stuck for 12 years. You see what I'm saying?

Like those things tend to happen a lot when stuff gets released even amongst small groups. So I don't think that this needs to be public. And I will say, I understand the push to get in public because many of the public who don't understand contracts when they see it, I'm sure would jump on the bandwagon instantly of like, oh, these teams are being exploited,

at least for Florida State glimpsen. I'm sure folks would say, wait a minute, they're getting how much for their viewership, as opposed to how much of Vanderbilt in Indiana, of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska is getting for maybe not the same type of viewership. Yeah, no, it's well said. So here's what the ESPN, what the ACC said about this. They said that the ESPN contracts have other trade secrets, too, everything from how football

broadcasts are selected to operational costs, sponsorship information, signage, future payouts, and quote-unquote conference composition provisions. So you have to wonder, it's not just the Florida AG versus the ACC now. It's the Florida AG versus the entire Power 4. So we'll see how that one plays out. but always a good time when Kenton Gibbs and I can get together. Guys, you want to make sure you follow Kenton at TGIF underscore Kenton on X. Check out his other awesome show, Locked on Wolfpack.

You can check out my other show. I host Lockedon Cains. Follow me on X at Alex Dono. And we will talk to everyone again next time on another episode of Lockdown ACC, part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.