Yesterday, the ACC and ESPN announced an extension to their exclusive media rights package through 2026-27. Reports indicate that the revenue for football and basketball will rise from $13 million to around $17 million per school.
According to Brown, FSU is in a prime state (population of 19 million) to possibly create their own television network and gain an additional $5 million per year in media rights revenue. Add to that $2 million more that the Big 12 would bring and the Seminoles could rake in around $24 million per year.
Florida State may be content in the ACC, but the Seminoles need some cash. Several media outlets reported last week that the FSU athletics department is facing a budget shortfall of $2.4 million for 2012-13. Chip Brown also mentions that Florida State’s “basketball arena and football stadium are in desperate need of renovation.”
You can read the rest of Brown’s article over at OrangeBloods.com. He goes into more detail about the issues Florida State is facing.
What would happen if Florida State actually did make the move to the Big 12? Clemson has been rumored as a possible team to follow them. But BYU and Louisville have also been in the conversation a lot longer.
Those four schools would give the Big 12 a total of 14 schools. Stay tuned.
Update (5/11/12): Florida State athletics director Randy Spetman told the Orlando Sentinel this morning that the Seminoles are “committed to the ACC.”