Teel: ACC keeps swimming in cash. FSU, Clemson want more. (2024)

Released to the Times-Dispatch on Thursday afternoon, the league’s annual federal tax filing shows revenue of $706.6 million, 92% of which was distributed to the 15 member schools. The average share for full members was $44.8 million, a 13.7% jump from the previous year.

Partial member Notre Dame received $22.1 million.

The distribution growth is the conference’s largest in eight years. Moreover, the average share for full members has jumped 88.2% since 2015-16.

Income from the ACC’s contracts with ESPN continued its steady rise, up 8.5% to $481.7 million. But postseason football represented the most significant bump, escalating 44.2% to $129.8 million.

Commissioner Jim Phillips’ total compensation was $2.8 million, modest by power conference standards. Former commissioner John Swofford received $2.6 million in what a league spokesperson said is his final year on the books.

The ACC reported a conference-record $7.2 million in legal expenses, up 42% year-over-year. But given the industry’s litigious times, evident in this week’s House vs. the NCAA settlement deliberations, that outlay is sure to mushroom.

School distributions ranged from North Carolina’s $46.9 million to Georgia Tech’s $43.3 million. Virginia and Virginia Tech received $43.9 million and $43.7 million, respectively.

The minimal difference between the largest and smallest share is typical for a conference that has essentially divided revenue evenly for much of its history. That will change dramatically in 2024-25, when football success will be rewarded to such a degree that one school could receive upwards of $15 million more than its rivals.

Speaking at the league’s spring meetings earlier this month, Phillips called the success initiative “the most dynamic” distribution model among the four power conferences.

“We’re not standing still,” he said.

Yet for all the financial progress and innovation, Florida State and Clemson, the ACC’s leading football brands, are unsatisfied. They say that a widening gap that separates the Big Ten and SEC from the rest of college sports is untenable, and they are challenging the ACC’s exit fee of more than $120 million and grant of rights in court.

The grant of rights conveys the television value of each member’s home athletics events to the league through 2036. The Seminoles and Tigers don’t mask their craving for Big Ten or SEC membership, but unless a court overturns the ACC’s exit fee and grant of rights, leaving the conference would cost each school more than $550 million.

Tax filings from the Big Ten and SEC illustrate the revenue gap. Per USA Today, the Big Ten reported $880 million in 2022-23 revenue, with an average distribution to members of $60.3 million. The SEC announced $852 million of income and a $51.3 million average share.

This summer’s realignment will further separate the two wealthiest conferences from the pack as UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington join the Big Ten, while Texas and Oklahoma transfer to the SEC.

The College Football Playoff’s expansion this year from four teams to 12 compounds the ACC’s financial challenges. Under terms of the CFP’s new contract with ESPN, the SEC and Big Ten will each receive a 29% cut, the ACC 17.1%.

The SEC’s and Big Ten’s expansions prompted ACC presidents to invite Stanford, Cal and Southern Methodist into the conference. The newcomers’ willingness to accept reduced or, in SMU’s case, no ACC revenue for multiple years will enrich current members, but it’s not enough for some.

“When you talk about full (ACC Network) distribution, when you’re talking about success initiatives, and you talk about what we’ve done with the new schools, we have continued to try to close the (revenue) gap,” Phillips said. “If we’re chasing money, then we’re chasing money. “But I believe we’re also trying to chase success. … No one can show me that money equates to success. Maybe you can show me some examples, but I’ve got some examples also where schools have done really well on the national scene with less revenue.”

Many of those schools — take a bow, Virginia and North Carolina — reside in the ACC, which has produced 21 NCAA team champions in the last 2½ academic years, second nationally to the Pac-12. The Cavaliers and Tar Heels have each won five national titles in that span.

But as the Pac-12’s sad demise teaches, the quest for television riches can render competitive success moot.

“It is unprecedented,” Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babco*ck said of FSU’s and Clemson’s legal maneuverings. “I know they have their own reasons for doing it, but it’s a bit of a distraction and certainly takes away from some of the positive messaging, whether that’s drastic improvement in football viewership (or) all the national championships the ACC’s won.”