šŸ—ŗ Potential ACC Expansion & Conference Realignment

I like this with expansion outside of our current footprint. Pods could save travel expenses. ACC could become American Collegiate Conference!

I too love being kings of the ACC, and anticipate that we will be for the foreseeable future, but what weight can we really give that if the quality of the conference continues to decline as the B1G and the SEC do laps around the ACC in terms of revenue? The ACC canā€™t afford to be in its current TV deal until 2032 if it wants any chance of keeping up with B1G and SEC, as much as I hate both conferences.

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Yep- I do understand all of this. Itā€™s a double edged sword for sure, it would be nice for the ACC to take the reigns and invite some of these other wayward teams to join our conference and somehow generate enough revenue to compete with the SEC and BIG10.

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Accidentally posted in the wrong thread but Kansas in talks with B1G allegedly. Baylor being targeted by pac-12.

I think schools that make sense for ACC expansion are Cincinnati, Maryland (want that rivalry back), UCF, WVU, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Kentucky. I saw some others mention Houston as well but I feel like you should be bordering a state with an ACC school already.

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I canā€™t see any school leaving the SEC to go to the ACC, it would be such a huge loss in revenue for them. When ACC football went conference-only last season, the ACC should not have allowed ND to maintain the status quo, as the ACC had the upper hand. ACC is in a very tough spot right now.

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Has a conference ever kicked a program out though? Of course SEC wants to keep kentucky basketball, but I assume they also make more money from more high level match ups and tv ratings in football, which they could maximize by pushing out the fodder football teams and having the better teams match up more frequently.

I think itā€™d be a contractual nightmare for a conference to kick out a member. No school in their right mind would agree to that sort of clause. Though, itā€™d certainly raise the stakes for all the bottom-feeder teams, Iā€™d love to see BC go lol.

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From 2020 (USA Today):

According to the new documents, covering fiscal years ending June 30:

ā–ŗThe Big Ten brought in $781.5 million, which resulted in payouts of about $55.6 million to each of the 14-team conferenceā€™s 12 longest-standing members. Maryland and Rutgers received smaller revenue-share amounts, but both schools also received loans from the conference against future revenue shares.

ā–ŗThe 10-team Big 12 reported $439 million and payouts ranging from $38.2 million to $42 million.

ā–ŗThe Atlantic Coast reported $455.4 million (payouts from $27.6 million to $34 million across 14 schools, plus $6.8 million to Notre Dame).

ā–ŗThe Pac-12 reported $530.4 million (payouts of about $32.2 million per school). That figure that does not take into account the equity value of the Pac-12 Networks, the conferenceā€™s fully self-owned television and video content provider whose expenses help result in the conference passing less money to its member schools than the other conferences.

For 2019:
The SEC had $720.6 million in total revenue for a fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2019, according to a federal tax return that the conference provided Thursday in response to a request from USA TODAY Sports. That resulted in an average of nearly $45.3 million being distributed to the 13 member schools that received full shares. Mississippi did not get a full share because of its football team was banned from postseason play.

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The ACC has been a shadow of itself for a long time. I have not developed any kind of feeling about nearly all the old Big East teams we added 10-15 years ago (Syracuse basketball is kind of fun).

The thought of adding detritus like Cincinnati, WVU, or UCF to the current lineup of BC, Pitt, Miamiā€¦ yuck. Donā€™t see how that helps you keep up with conferences adding (potentially) Texas, Oklahoma, or Kansas either.

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The more I think about it and look at the money breakdowns, I double down on my thought that the ACC should not punt (pun intended) on football. Obviously they should keep it and play and do their best etc. But thereā€™s no sense in adding schools in an effort to boost the conferences football profile. The differences in the the revenue between the the BIG and SEC compared to the ACC is too much. The football schools in those conferences have too much of a head start and I donā€™t see how the ACC can catch up. All the schools weā€™ve mentioned adding UC, WVU, UCF etc. they donā€™t actually move the needle on football. All those programs are light years away from Clemson, Bama, UT, OSU, etc. The ACCā€™s best hope is Miami (maybe) and FSU (highly doubtful) return to their 90ā€™s peak form.

The focus in terms of revenue should shift to basketball and setting up new lucrative deals base on that. If they want to add a school based on that premise Iā€™d listen.

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Orā€¦ UVA goes to the Big10, though I doubt thatā€™d be an option.

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Not sure if thatā€™s an option for a number of reasons. As a fan Iā€™d hate to see that happen, UVa would be a doormat every football season. The basketball matchups could be intriguing but I donā€™t like the prospect of losing all the history they have in the ACC. Financially however, I wouldnā€™t blame them one bit if they made the leap. Thatā€™s too much money to pass up.

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Totally agree. Unless a school is bringing in 30+ mil in conference revenue all youā€™re doing is splitting the same pie more ways and all the current schools lose out. Hard pass on WVU or UC or any other AAC school. Hard pass on UConnā€™s pathetic football program too.

ND is a take, self explanatory. If ND wonā€™t come without Navy thatā€™s a take too (preferably just Navy football paired with a premier non-football school, maybe Georgetown or Villanova). Hell, maybe adding a military academy gets ACC games exposure on AFN and helps some schools add more veteran students using GI Bill benefits.

No school is leaving the B10 or SEC to join the ACC, thatā€™s a pipe dream. Canā€™t think of any other schools in or around our footprint that would be a net positive on per school revenue.

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Orlanda is a huge TV market with UCF though. And their football team has been really good. Cincinatti market I guess and both their sports programs have been solid as well. Out of the realistic options. Houston would be great.Vandy academics and in Nashville.

Getting Maryland back would be great in terms of dominating the DC Market.

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Weā€™re already in the Orlando market with FSU and Miami. UCF doesnā€™t add cable subscribers and itā€™s a young school without an alumni base that will spend money to subscribe to an ACC network stream just to watch UCF play. Theyā€™re not adding to the pie, only shrinking everyone elseā€™s share.

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Vanderbilt and Maryland are not realistic options.

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No.

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Perhaps there are other revenue sources Iā€™m not aware of, but the figures you mention are not large at all compared to a LOT of top universities (Virginia, for example, which has a much bigger endowment)ā€”and Iā€™m not referring to the Ivy League schools who are irrelevant to this discussion.

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Liberty is certainly nouveau riche, but it is the riche that counts. According to a New York Times article;

ā€œBy 2016, Libertyā€™s net assets had crossed the $1.6 billion mark, up more than tenfold from a decade earlier. Thanks to its low spending on instruction, its net income was an astonishing $215 million on nearly $1 billion in revenue, according to its tax filing ā€” making it one of the most lucrative nonprofits in the country, based simply on the difference between its operating revenue and expenses, in a league with some of the largest nonprofit hospital systems.ā€

I believe they are the second largest recipient of Federal financial aid funds in the country, primarily for low cost online education. They own their own construction company. Unless the recent Title IX lawsuit derails the train, they are loaded and spending.

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I recall mikeysmurf mentioning that the spend budget at UVA was like 5Bā€¦not sure if Liberty is what we would call ā€œricheā€ just yetā€¦

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