Mike Norvell: ACC revenue sharing talks could be 'scary' for college athletics

The ACC spring meetings are taking place in Amelia Island, Fla., and ACC revenue sharing is a major topic of discussion.

Some schools like Florida State have been pushing the conference for uneven revenue sharing, with more money allocated toward programs like Florida State that bring in the bulk of the TV viewership for the conference.

Head football coach Mike Norvell called the discussions “scary” because of what they could potentially mean for college athletics.

“We hear and it’s talked about, of potential,” Norvell said. “I think that’s one of those factors that can be really scary for college athletics. When it comes to college football, I don’t know if it goes to revenue sharing, I think there’s — football’s not the sport that will probably suffer from that. It’s every other sport that maybe doesn’t generate profits.

“It’s going to be in extreme jeopardy if those things continue to go the way they could go.”

How the ACC revenue sharing talks shake out could alter the future for the conference, with the league’s outlook a bit shaky compared to some of its peers like the SEC and the Big Ten. In fact, finding ways to close the growing revenue gap is one of the points of discussion this week.

Florida State athletics director Michael Alford continues to push for programs like FSU getting a larger cut.

“I make no bones about it that we’re the top brand in the conference,” Alford said in an interview with Warchant last week. “And when you look at how they measure media contracts, with households, viewership and championships, we’re driving that viewership for our conference at a high rate.

“There are a couple schools that are really driving that media contract.”

But whether other programs in the conference will be receptive to such a model remains to be seen. So too does whether or not it will matter for those schools.

And then beyond the ACC revenue sharing discussion there’s also the dynamics of local politics.

“That’s in different states and different governments that have to decide whether that’s something that’s going to proceed,” Norvell said. “But I know for college athletics it’s definitely a concern and something that everybody has their eyes towards, because it would be a drastic change and a lot of situations and a lot of things that, for student-athletes and the experience of what they are provided, does that change? Would that be something that would be changed in how that all occurs?

“We’ll see where it goes.”