ACC commissioner Jim Phillips had some terse reaction to lawsuits filed against the conference by Clemson and Florida State. At the conference’s “kickoff” event in Charlotte on Monday he held an hour-long forum with the media. The commissioner vows to fight back against the lawsuits, all while saying his relationships with the schools is still good.
Florida State and Clemson both have lawsuits in their respective states to get out of the Grant of Rights that bestows ownership of their home media rights to the conference. The ACC has countersued both schools in Mecklenburg County for breach of contracts. All four lawsuits are currently in the appellate stages just on early motions. They are at least a year away from even touching trial issues.
Terse Words for the Schools
Phillis called the lawsuits “Disruptive” to the conference and the membership. “But I can say we will fight to protect the ACC and our members for as long as it takes.” Phillips emphasized that the schools signed the original GoR as well as the revision in 2016, which extended the agreement through 2036. “This is a really important time for the conference. Either you believe in what’s been signed or you don’t. We’re going to do everything we can to protect and fight for the league,” he said.
He added, “These disputes continue to be extremely damaging, destructive, and incredibly harmful to the league, as well as overshadowing our student-athletes.”
Keeping Issues Separate
He was asked how the conference could fight the lawsuits, yet not have them as a distraction to the daily work of the ACC. “We’ve had six months of disruption, and I think we have handled it incredibly well.” Phillips said his office has had to learn to compartmentalize the legal side of the work from the athletics part of the job. However, he admitted that he spends a portion of every day on the job dealing with legal issues. “I don’t think that’s going to change.”
Phillips said the lawsuits have not impacted his working relationship with the administrations of the schools that are suing the conference. “The legal piece will be the legal piece. And we are going to do what we have to do, just like they are going to do what they have to do,” he said. “But the moment that first lawsuit happened in December (Florida State), I grabbed the staff and I told them that we were not going to treat any school any differently. The student-athletes had nothing to do with this.” He called it a separate piece.
Big Picture
Phillips also addressed national issues like the settlement in House v. NCAA that will allow schools to revenue share with student-athletes. He also continued his position opposing college athletes becoming school employees. Phillips said the young athletes and their parents are not ready for what comes with being an employee of a university.
He expressed concern about schools reaching out to private equity firms for new sources of revenue as they start to pay athletes directly. “Nothing is for free,” he said.
