ACC considering moving its headquarters from Greensboro (Charlotte, Raleigh: gated, swimming)
Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High PointThe Triad Area
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Paul Finebaum 'congratulates' ACC for essentially leading to its own demise with Cal, Stanford, SMU additions. Essentially, the ACC is trading UNC, Florida State and Clemson for three irrelevant schools in college basketball/football because don't be surprised when UNC, Florida State and Clemson can legally bolt from the league in 13 years. And if Carolina goes, Duke will likely follow. Its going to be a slow death of the ACC thanks to the direction commissioner Jim Phillips is taking the league. What a s_cmuck. As I've said before the success of a college sports conference isn't completely about money or having the conference headquarters in a "big city". That's all irrelevant. Its about the school programs and the winning success of those programs. That was the focus of the conference when John Swofford was commissioner and its the reason the ACC became an elite conference in the first place and the ACC didn't need big city glamor or millions of dollars from big TV contracts to make it happen. The golden age of the ACC is over. This is not the same conference we've all grown up with.
Paul Finebaum 'congratulates' ACC for essentially leading to its own demise with Cal, Stanford, SMU additions. Essentially, the ACC is trading UNC, Florida State and Clemson for three irrelevant schools in college basketball/football because don't be surprised when UNC, Florida State and Clemson can legally bolt from the league in 13 years. And if Carolina goes, Duke will likely follow. Its going to be a slow death of the ACC thanks to the direction commissioner Jim Phillips is taking the league. What a s_cmuck. As I've said before the success of a college sports conference isn't completely about money or having the conference headquarters in a "big city". That's all irrelevant. Its about the school programs and the winning success of those programs. That was the focus of the conference when John Swofford was commissioner and its the reason the ACC became an elite conference in the first place and the ACC didn't need big city glamor or millions of dollars from big TV contracts to make it happen. The golden age of the ACC is over. This is not the same conference we've all grown up with.
Attorneys have been looking for a way around the $120 million ACC exit fee for nearly 18 months now. So far, these attorneys have found nothing. As it stands, the ACC would receive $360 million in cash for the exit of 3 schools. How strong would the ACC be financially after such a transaction (and how weak would those schools be financially after that transaction)?
I get that some fans WANT to see the death of the ACC because those fans feel as though the conference has turned it's back on its roots. I personally don't care about Tobacco-road (or whatever it's called) or the rivalries, or the history of this state's obsession with college athletics. I'm just a business nerd who finds all of this extremely interesting. With that said, until the exit fee situation is solved, it's the ACC who has checkmate in this game and I suspect that NC State switched its position because they know who has the upper hand here.
And here's the bigger issue. What happens if by some dumb luck one of the three newcomers has the best football program for just one season between now and 2030? They don't have to be national champions; they just have to be the best or one of the top three in the ACC a few times within the next decade. In any competition, you are only as good as your competitors. These three schools now have some decent competition within their own conference as a measuring stick and as a goal post. They could get better (and they already have the built-in advantage of being home to a much larger television audience within their metropolitan areas).
This would explain why they were so eager to join the ACC initially with virtually no compensation. They welcome the regular meetings with better competition so that they can get better and grow their brand. If they become relevant on the field (just once or twice) they will generate a lot of money for the ACC (and would be due the largest percentage of future media revenues).
I'm just not sure what the 3 holdouts wanted the ACC to do. Did they really expect a free exit to the SEC? The ACC has recently renegotiated their old equal-revenue sharing model to better reward winning programs. And now we have a significant expansion of the ACC television market size without having to give full payout to the newcomers until a future date. Maybe the traditionalist fanbase sees all of this as "too much change too fast" and they hate it. From a business perspective, this recent move by the ACC was extremely smart to be honest....
The problem for most of the ACC member schools is they know the two elite conferences for football forming (Big 10 and SEC) won't want them. Cal and Stanford would have preferred to join the Big 10 with former Pac-12 members USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington... but the Big 10 shut the door and said "no thanks" as they didn't have strong enough TV numbers for football. That's a wake up call for 11 of the 15 current ACC members who have even worse TV ratings than Cal and Stanford and are in small media markets (versus the San Francisco Bay Area). If the Big 10 doesn't want Cal, why would they Wake Forest, et.?
This likely left most of the ACC members to look at the situation Washington State and Oregon State find themselves in. Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, et. have made it clear they will likely leave. For the other 12 schools, they are likely concerned they might not get invited to the other conferences so this is a survival measure to try to keep the ACC somewhat relevant if you don't get an invite to the elite Big 10 or SEC club. The university presidents are getting desperate because the smaller football schools in the ACC aren't sure what their back up plan would be and who would want them.
I also wouldn't be surprised if Duke isn't able to follow Carolina out of the ACC despite the historic rivalry in basketball, which is why the two schools were on opposite sides of this vote. Duke knows they aren't pulling in the football numbers which is where the money is at. #91 in football TV ratings.... Those are completely unacceptable numbers for the Big 10 and SEC and regular season basketball won't make up for that deficit on football. The Big 10 and SEC manage their brands by having PACKED football stadiums and there is a chance they won't want Duke's half empty football stadium for game day. If basketball made more money outside of March Madness (where TV revenue is controlled by the NCAA rather than the conference), basketball might be enough. It just isn't.
FWIW basketball does make money outside of March Madness . Notre Dame is clearing 15-17 million from the ACC for their BBall/Olympic sports.
It makes money, just not nearly as much money as football. Even at programs like Duke, the football team generates about ~$6 million more in revenue than basketball
It makes money, just not nearly as much money as football. Even at programs like Duke, the football team generates about ~$6 million more in revenue than basketball
Don't get me wrong football is driving the bus but without bball (M&W) the ACCN is not viable. Change is coming to March Madness soon, The Women's game has turned into a viable money maker & their is talk of biding it separate from Olympic sports rights & possibly putting both M&W tournament rights together. I have also heard the NCAA is toying with idea of a combined final four with Women playing Fri/Sun & Men Sat/Mon
Cal, Stanford, and SMU to the ACC is obviously not logical. But neither is USC and UCLA to the Big 10, or any of the other moves that have happened. People are panning the ACC, and perhaps rightly so. But my opinion is that this current iteration of conference moves is not sustainable. Rather, it's an intermediate step towards another evolution. My money would be on an eventual breakaway division for elite college football, and a return to more regional conferences for all (or almost all) of the other sports. If the current ACC expansion allows the conference to survive until the end game plays out (rather than dissolving like the Pac-12), then it could end up being a shrewd move after all.
Cal, Stanford, and SMU to the ACC is obviously not logical. But neither is USC and UCLA to the Big 10, or any of the other moves that have happened. People are panning the ACC, and perhaps rightly so. But my opinion is that this current iteration of conference moves is not sustainable. Rather, it's an intermediate step towards another evolution. My money would be on an eventual breakaway division for elite college football, and a return to more regional conferences for all (or almost all) of the other sports. If the current ACC expansion allows the conference to survive until the end game plays out (rather than dissolving like the Pac-12), then it could end up being a shrewd move after all.
That's sort of what I think the end-game here is. Something of a break off from the rest of college football where the SEC and Big 10 are sort of a National League and American League or NFC/AFC as far as media rights go.
Should the Big 12 and/or ACC survive, they will be sort of another tier below those two conferences.
Expansion also means Charlotte will host the ACC football championship less. Word is Dallas is being considered for a neutral site as well. This could also mean Dallas being added in the ACC Men's Basketball tournament rotation.
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