Clemson playing South Carolina on Black Friday? Clemson refuses ACC's request

Clemson refused the ACC and ESPN request to play South Carolina on Black Friday.

David Hood - Senior Writer - Tuesday, July 02 2024

Clemson University refused a request by the Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN to move this year’s home game against South Carolina to the Friday night after Thanksgiving on Black Friday.

Court documents obtained by TigerNet pertaining to the school’s lawsuit against the conference in its efforts to break the Grant of Rights revealed that the conference and ESPN made the request.

The conference asked Clemson to move the game – scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 30th – to a Friday night primetime game on ESPN.

The rivalry game was played on Thursdays until 1959. When President John F. Kennedy was shot in 1963, the game was postponed a week and played the following Saturday. From the first time the two schools met in 1896 to the 1959 meeting, Clemson and South Carolina played in Columbia during the week of the State Fair. The first 57 meetings were played on the third Thursday of every October.

Thanksgiving is later than usual this year and will be observed on Thursday, November 28th.

The league and ESPN agreed to several concessions regarding Clemson’s future scheduling:

1. November 23 game versus The Citadel scheduled at noon.

2. Confirmed prime time game time for the Friday, November 29 game.

3. Agreement to switch the scheduled 2027 Labor Day Monday conference game featuring Clemson (at NC State) to a Clemson home ACC game.

4. Limit of two (2) road ACC games in 2024 played in prime time.

5. Agreement that the University of South Carolina would reciprocate with hosting a future Clemson vs. South Carolina game on “Black Friday”.

The league said that despite having secured these concessions, and despite other ACC teams having agreed to play on “Black Friday” in previous instances (e.g., Georgia Tech vs. Georgia, Florida State vs. Florida, North Carolina vs. Notre Dame, Virginia vs. Virginia Tech, North Carolina vs. NC State, etc.), Clemson declined to move the game.

In email from the ACC to Clemson Athletic Director Graham Neff, Michael Strickland, the Senior Associate Commissioner for Football, wrote:

As has been indicated to you during this process, the Conference Office is disappointed in Clemson University’s lack of cooperation on this matter. As all ACC members know, it is incumbent upon the ACC and its institutions to work in good faith with ESPN on football scheduling issues. This cooperation maximizes the value of our relationship with our media partner and strengthens our collective future. Clemson’s decision not to do so in this instance is harmful toward that goal.

With regards,

MICHAEL STRICKLAND