[Maple Leaf]

Sure, it’s all about getting settlement check.

But maybe our resident legal experts can answer this — what if Clemson (and FSU and anyone else) just went ahead and booked home-and-home series with the likes of Bama,  Michigan, U$C, etc etc? How could any governance infrastructure prevent the teams from physically meeting on the field? (Assume for a minute that the SEC wanted Clemson - either now or in the future - would it really prevent Clemson/Bama from happening? How? By suspending Bama? Right….as if.)

I really wonder how much teeth these conference structures have. What’s to prevent Fox or ESPN or whoever to negotiate a separate TV deal to show a “bootleg” game or games?

Other than $$ I don’t see a whole lot of things that can deter a school or schools from going rogue.

You have identified a real potential problem that could cause the current realignment of conferences to imploded.  You will have promoters lining up matches each off season and then going to fox, espn or whoever will pay the most, with those two schools each getting 1/3 and the promoter getting 1/3 just for grins, then add in sports betting, and playing the top games in Vegas.

[Maple Leaf]

Sure, it’s all about getting settlement check.

But maybe our resident legal experts can answer this — what if Clemson (and FSU and anyone else) just went ahead and booked home-and-home series with the likes of Bama,  Michigan, U$C, etc etc? How could any governance infrastructure prevent the teams from physically meeting on the field? (Assume for a minute that the SEC wanted Clemson - either now or in the future - would it really prevent Clemson/Bama from happening? How? By suspending Bama? Right….as if.)

I really wonder how much teeth these conference structures have. What’s to prevent Fox or ESPN or whoever to negotiate a separate TV deal to show a “bootleg” game or games?

Other than $$ I don’t see a whole lot of things that can deter a school or schools from going rogue.

You have identified a real potential problem that could cause the current realignment of conferences to imploded.  You will have promoters lining up matches each off season and then going to fox, espn or whoever will pay the most, with those two schools each getting 1/3 and the promoter getting 1/3 just for grins, then add in sports betting, and playing the top games in Vegas.