It appears that Friday is the day when it comes to potential ACC expansion.
The ACC Presidents and Chancellors will meet virtually Friday morning, ESPN’s Andrea Adelson reported. The call was postponed after the tragic situation in Chapel Hill, North Carolina earlier this week.
She further reported that it is unclear if there is enough support for the ACC to actually vote to expand with either Cal, Stanford or SMU — or any variation of those three schools. But, of course, that will be the purpose of Friday’s meeting.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel initially reported that the ACC was looking to schedule university presidents and chancellors for a call this week after talks advanced last week. He added that while nothing was finalized, a decision was expected to be made this week — either way — when it comes to adding Cal, Stanford and SMU.
Cal, Stanford and SMU, who have received national support from the likes of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former President George Bush, need to receive 12 ‘yes’ votes in order to be accepted into the ACC. The 14 member schools, plus Notre Dame, which votes as a full member, will still need to flip one of the dissenting voters.
It was Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina and North Carolina State that initially opposed adding Cal, Stanford and SMU. Which, of course, means that Pitt is in favor of expansion. But with new financial opportunities, that could tip the scales.
Thamel reported that ACC officials are still trying to figure out how the money made by adding Cal, Stanford and SMU would be distributed amongst the member schools.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, the ACC could earn just about $72 million in new money by adding Cal, Stanford and SMU to the conference.
“The ACC’s television contract with ESPN includes a pro-rata clause requiring the network to increase the value of the deal by one Tier 1 share for every new member — believed to be about $24 million a share, or about 70% of a full ACC share, which includes Tiers 1-3,” Dellenger wrote.
He further reported that Cal and Stanford have agreed to take roughly 30% of the $24 million share, and after those shares and travel costs are factored in, the ACC could earn at least $30 million in revenue to be distributed via incentive pools based on athletic success. Those incentives are likely to be weighted heavily toward football success — championships, bowl assignments and end-of-the-year rankings.
Thamel reported that the expected new revenue for each ACC school is between $50 and $60 million annually, with the rest of the money placed in a pool for success initiatives.
SMU, which is currently a member of the AAC, would reportedly propose taking no revenue for the first seven years of its ACC membership.
Adding the likes of Cal, SMU or Stanford won’t close the gap between the ACC and the Big Ten or SEC, but it’s the required move when it comes to staying afloat in college athletics these days.
The financial situation of adding the Pac-12 leftovers and SMU will clearly be the sticking point as the ACC hovers on the brink of expansion, as financial discussions will dominate realignment talk as a whole, but it does appear to have reached a breaking point.
If they vote no, that is the end of the acc. Maybe not today, but reading the NC president comments there is no long term path forward for acc. Every school should be looking hard to get out or where to go when it blows up in a few years. Big 12 for Pitt would be my guess or a new super conference that does not exist now. The best option would be a complete joining of big 12 and whatever is left of acc along with the west coast schools. Then Make two divisions east and west to reduce… Read more »
Must be either a Mountaineer or a member of PSN. 2036 is a long way aways. Stay tune.