By Brett Daniels
The Atlantic Coast Conference signed a new revenue sharing agreement with member schools to strengthen the stability of the conference and settle lawsuits with Clemson and Florida State. The new deal will allocate 40 percent of the conference revenue to 14 teams (Cal, Stanford and SMU will not receive any payout for the first nine years of membership) while 60 percent will be distributed based on TV ratings with a rolling average of the last five years the main benchmark.
What Does it Mean for the ACC?
The agreement will settle the current lawsuits that the conference is currently embroiled in with Florida State and Clemson. This agreement also provides for short-term stability for the conference with all parties involved accepting the updated terms. The agreement will distribute up to an additional $30 million dollars to the top-rated schools while the lower rated schools would see a reduction of $7-8 million in payouts. The additional funds will allow the ACC’s top schools ($44.8 million) to be on a more even footing with the Big Ten Conference (approximately $70 million) and the Southeastern Conference ($52.5 million). The agreement also provides a lesser exit fee after the 2030 season, which is the same time that the Big Ten, SEC and College Football Playoff will be negotiating their new TV deals.
What Does it Mean for Florida State and Clemson?
The Seminoles and Tigers are the biggest winners out of the new agreement. In lawsuits filed against the conference both schools alleged they were at a disadvantage due to the undervalued TV deal the conference signed in 2016. The deal with ESPN was for 20 years and gave the network the option to renew after 10 years which they did in February and will run through the 2036 season. Under the new agreement both schools have agreed to drop their lawsuits against the conference and will receive more conference revenue based off of their performance on the football field and basketball court.
More Sports News
2024 Results
The highest rated games that featured an ACC team also featured the University of Georgia with the Bulldogs annual tilt against Georgia Tech (8.47 million) and season opening game against Clemson (7.58 million) drawing the most viewers. The highest rated ACC vs. ACC game was the ACC Championship Game between Clemson and SMU that drew 6 million viewers while the Georgia Tech vs. FSU game in Dublin, Ireland drew 4.99 million viewers to start the season. Virginia Tech vs. Miami at 3.26 million viewers was the highest-rated ACC game that did not feature Clemson, Florida State or Georgia Tech.
