The ACC ended Wednesday after a tense few days of the Spring Games, with commissioner Jim Phillips saying all members of the league are “strongly” contributing to each other.
Phillips’ comments follow multiple reports, including: The Athleticseven members of the ACC are reviewing the league’s entitlement to determine whether it can be challenged in court, and as a result, one or more will be elected before their media rights agreement expires in 2036. He said it could pave the way for him to leave the ACC.
Whit Babcock, Athletic Director, Virginia Tech told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The seven schools—Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State University, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, and North Carolina State University—have met with attorneys to investigate the document.
Babcock told The Times-Dispatch, “I would classify this as a number of conversations, usually in small groups, about entitlement, league rules and interpretation of options that may be there. ‘ said. “But as you know, granting rights has been considered many times by many people.”
Babcock said the conversation was not as organized as many interpreted from Monday’s report, and that some discussions involved some of the seven rather than all of them together. rice field.
“I think it wasn’t ideal when it was announced, but it could be a real conversation starter and get to things that we’ve been working on as the ACC a little quicker,” Babcock said.
He and his colleagues ended the meeting by venting grievances, clarifying positions, and exploring initiatives to move teams to a new revenue model that rewards competitive success. FSU and Clemson administrators have been among the most vocal in recent months in support of unequal income sharing. With the 12-team college football playoffs scheduled for 2024, the teams that make the most postseason finishes have the potential to secure more of the league’s allotted CFP revenue than those that do not.
After an eventful week on Amelia Island, Florida, the ACC remains unchanged on a survival level. The league’s income gap relative to the Big Ten and SEC is only snowballing, with those two leagues paying $30 million more than they would in a normal school year. But without a viable exit ramp for ACC member states until 2036, potential tensions and grievances could persist for quite some time.
This week’s hot topic about the ACC’s seven schools raises interesting questions for other major conferences. Are those schools looking for new landing sites? If so, is there any chance it will be available before 2036? Could it influence your decision?
On the other hand, in the Pac-12
Everyone in the West remains in a hold pattern as management awaits presentation of the league’s new media rights deal. multiple league officials have confirmed. The Athletic Such a deal is expected to be announced this summer, as Washington President Kirk Schultz said earlier this month. In a conversation with Waz’s Regent.
Schultz attributed the delay in negotiations to “economic uncertainty, job cuts in high-tech and elsewhere.” …Obviously optics is what those people are really worried about. …If you ask me when would be the worst time to negotiate a media deal in the last six years, the last five months are probably pretty close to the worst. “
“I know the fans are frustrated.” Schultz told Cougfan.com on Friday.. “I ask everyone to be patient, because as time goes on, more bidders, more people are interested, and the ten schools are the most cohesive I have ever seen.”
For media companies with little experience with college football rights, the negotiation process is different (and takes longer). ESPN will also remain involved in the bidding process. According to people briefed on the negotiations, if there is a game package for ION or The CW, it will be very small and for the lowest tier of the service.
The league plans to finalize media rights negotiations before adding members. Pac-12 officials say it is highly unlikely that Pac-12 will backfill more than two additional schools after USC and UCLA depart for the Big Ten in 2024. Also, the league’s choice to stay at 10 members (assuming it fends off proposals from the Big 12) would also mean adding only one new member, much like the Big Ten after adding Penn State. may choose to operate as an 11-team league.
One of the key dates (not strictly a deadline per se, but a key metric) is June 30, 2023. If San Diego State leaves Mountain West after that date and attempts to join Pac-12 in the summer of 2024, the exit fee (about $17 million) will be tripled. As such, the Pac-12 will have until June 30th to make its long-awaited decision against the Aztecs, or the earliest that San Diego State can compete in the Pac-12 will be the fall of 2025.
Pac-12’s media deal is still in flux and it’s hard to say definitively, but among key managers the deal is enough for the league’s survival in a relatively short period of time, and the deal and its aftermath Some are optimistic that the subsidies will keep all current members alive. Rights range from 4 to 6 years. An arrangement like this would keep the league stable for a few years and prepare members for further poaching ahead of the Big 10, Big 12 and the SEC’s next contract negotiations.
Why UConn Is Getting The Big 12’s Attention
It’s no secret that the Big 12 are interested in taking Colorado and Arizona from the Pac-12 at this point. But with the league’s media rights negotiations dragging on into the summer, school leaders are still waiting for a final offer, a wait that will test the patience of Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yeomark.
Yeomark continues to explore options for expanding the Big 12 into a 14- or 16-person conference in the future. Nothing seems imminent in terms of inviting new members, but the first-year commissioner is doing his homework and says University College is one of several schools he’s eyeing for Big 12 ties. said the person. athletic.
Western expansion has been an open ambition since Yeomark took office in July, giving the Big 12 a greater national presence and the ability to make TV appearances in all four time zones. But Yeomark is also known to be ready to double down on the Big 12’s dominance as the nation’s strongest college basketball conference if he finds goals that add value.
Winning the University College Men’s Basketball title this spring has certainly sparked more interest in Yeomark, and the school is seen as potentially a good fit for several strategic reasons. Championship-level men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are certainly high on the professional list, but so is the opportunity to establish a greater presence in the New York City market.
How does UConn football fit in? The Huskies are about to finish their best season in a long time. Jim Mora made a dramatic comeback in his debut season, winning six and taking the program to a bowl game for the first time since 2015. The Huskies haven’t had a winning record since 2010, when they were co-winners of the Big East. Then we played Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Since then, they’ve hired six head coaches, but have lost nine or more games in seven of their last nine seasons. But given the resources and platform that the Big 12 provide, will it be a more legitimate program by the end of the decade?
Yeomark sees the prospects for such expansion from the perspective of professional sports, looking at things in terms of future upturns rather than past achievements. He’s looking at programs that he can invest in by helping build brands that will ultimately add value to the Big 12 when the next TV deal hits in 2031.
Sources in both UConn’s current league (Big East) and past home (AAC) have expressed skepticism about the Huskies’ interest in moving to the Big 12. One of his biggest complaints about UConn as an AAC member was that it was disjointed and scattered. The nature of the conference, and the loss of traditional basketball rivalries in the Northeast. When the Huskies returned to the Big East in June 2019, they hung out at Madison Square Garden with banners, signs and paraphernalia that made it clear they felt they were back where they belonged. celebrated the announcement.
“Are they just trying so hard to get out of a league where they have to play in UCF and then just go back into a league where they have to play in UCF?” said one Big East official. “I can not see.”
University College Athletic Director David Benedict told CT Insider on Wednesday Future restructuring decisions will be a “complicated matter” for the school.
“The conversations and comments that are out there, I fully appreciate and understand people’s opinions,” Benedict said. “It’s probably obvious where they’re emotionally connected when you look at what people are saying and what they’re saying. But obviously internally we’re looking at it through a different lens and there are a lot of factors that we have to consider.
“Right now, I don’t think I have to make a decision right in front of me. Hm. There are different poses all over the country.There’s a lot of conversation.But ultimately you won’t know until you make a decision and that’s not where we are right now.”
One of Yeomark’s challenges, if UConn decides it’s part of his plan, will be to forge consensus among a board of Big 12 presidents and presidents. Some league officials are skeptical that UConn will add value to the conference. Since taking office last July, Yeomark has received strong board support to pursue what he considers best. It’s easy for presidents and ADs to participate in importing Pac-12 schools and the values they promote as full-share members. But going in this direction will probably require much more argument and persuasion.
Another important conversation on this front: Can Yeomark get TV partners ESPN and Fox to back these moves and prorate the extra fees that don’t come from the Power 5 League? Or would a school like University College be willing to accept a reduction just to be invited? Here, these potential moves become even more complicated. The Big 12 don’t necessarily need to scale up this summer. But even if the Pac-12 target gets enough deals to keep the status quo, Yeomark could go a long way to grow the league.
Among Big 12 managers inside and outside the Big 12, Yeomark’s ground-breaking plans were seen as far more far-reaching than simply poaching a few Pac-12 schools or relying on basketball pedigree. It is He’s looking to position the Big 12 as the third strongest power conference going forward — or possibly the third and final power conference if instability within the Pac-12 and the ACC leads to a breakaway that breaks these leagues. Conference standings. That’s right, the most valuable schools will flock to the SEC and Big Ten to earn the invitation. But what about his second tier, in a domino fall like this, schools like Louisville, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Duke University could be in the Big 12. It might be worth waiting to see what happens elsewhere before deciding to expand.
(Top photo: Logan Whitton/Getty Images)
