AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. – The ACC is moving to adopt a new weighted revenue distribution model that is expected to keep its big football powerhouse happy and as committed as the conference’s members.
Conference managers identified several viable models at the spring meetings Tuesday at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Florida. The models focus on merit-based awards that contribute a large portion of the conference’s annual revenue based on postseason success, particularly in football and basketball. High-profile members can earn an additional $10 million or more, according to Florida State’s athletic director. Michael Alford He told 247 Sports.
The ACC paid an average of $36.1 million to each team in the 2021 fiscal year. The starting share of programs does not go down from year to year in a new model.
Tuesday’s development temporarily quieted concerns about the conference’s future. Rumors have spread on social media that the Action Network sent legal representatives to the ACC offices in North Carolina on Monday to investigate the identity of seven schools and whether the 13-year contract could be voided. The grant of rights would not allow the ACC membership to transfer to a new conference — preferably the SEC or Big Ten — before 2036, with a potential maximum fine of $500 million.
Still, fans and the media questioned the health and future of the ACC as the behind-the-scenes scandal sparked.
“I think some of them – a lot of them are overcrowded,” Alford said. “The future of the ACC, in that room, is that we’re together, and we’re bringing a lot of solutions to each other.”
Alford called the exploratory trips to ACC headquarters “diligence” in the wake of massive adjustment waves at the other four Power Five conferences over the past two summers. Every program in the ACC has studied the league’s rights offer over the past two years, sources tell 247Sports.
“We’re excited to be in this league and we want to stay,” Alford reiterated at FSU on Tuesday.
Still, uncertainty and anxiety reigned in the ACC. The conference won’t fully close the gap with the SEC and Big Ten with more money from the expanded college football game, and it’s likely that the gap will widen as the Big Ten and SEC both negotiate new media rights deals with the ACC before agreeing with ESPN. In the year It ends in 2036. The Big Ten’s massive $7 billion-a-year contract expires in 2030, and the SEC’s exclusive deal with ESPN runs through 2034.
Alford said he believes the ACC’s weighted distribution model can improve from year to year. “We’ll continue to tweak it and see what we can do to grow it.”
In a merit-based system, additional funding comes from NCAA Tournament and college football playoff fees. The CFP pays $6 million to each team in the four-team playoffs and $4 million to each team in the New Year’s Six. That money is split equally among all teams currently in the ACC. New financial details have yet to be finalized as the playoffs expand to 12 teams.
The NCAA basketball fund allocates money from its massive March Madness television deal, and divisions are awarded to conferences based on postseason success. The ACC learned in 2022 that approximately $36.4 million will be paid over the next six years, which it will distribute equally to all members, Sportico reported.
One idea is to provide additional television revenue to teams that drive viewership in the conference, though that idea has not gained much traction. “One bridge at a time,” he said. Florida State led the ACC in averaging 3.1 million viewers for regular-season games between 2014 and 2021, according to the university.
Eighteen ACC football games drew more than 3 million viewers in 2022, but only one conference game did not feature Clemson or Florida State, according to data compiled by Sports Media Watch. North Carolina-NC State averaged 3.61 million viewers, ranking as the fourth-most watched conference matchup and 10th overall among ACC teams.
Oklahoma and Texas The move from the Big 12 to the SEC in 2021 and the departure of UCLA and USC from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten shook the earth again last summer.
The ACC is not expected to formally adopt a new distribution model, although athletic directors will make recommendations to the conference’s board of directors. Commissioner Jim Phillips and CFO Ben Tario He presented several possible revenue distribution models on Tuesday. The return on membership was minimal, Alford said.
“I said this a year ago in this same place: If revenue sharing is based on football investment and success on the field, I think that’s fine,” the Wake Forest coach said. Dave Clawson he said. “And I think Wake Forest will be a great fit for that model.”
The conference also continues to explore new revenue opportunities. ACC hired FishBait Solutions as a consultant in August 2022 to generate additional revenue through ACC’s network and other efforts.
“When I wake up, the first thing on my mind is revenue,” Alford said. “When the commissioner wakes up, the first thing on his mind is, ‘How do we fix this revenue model?’
Clemson and FSU have been vocal about the possibility of a weighted model starting in the summer of 2022. Alford shook the ACC cages at a meeting of the university’s board of trustees in February. “For Florida State to compete nationally, at the end of the day, something has to change going forward,” he said at the time. He also addressed an FSU trustee’s question about the exit fee if FSU leaves the ACCN for another conference.