NC State reportedly in group of ACC schools discussing options
With the major revenue sports done for the year, a large swatch of attention for collegiate athletics turn towards a new favorite pastime: following potential realignment. The Power Five landscape was hit by a pair of earthquakes in recent years, with Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and USC and UCLA bolting for the Big 10. NC State appears to be one of several members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) proactively making sure all options are on the table.
Earlier Monday, SI.com’s Ross Dellenger reported that as ACC meetings get underway this week, “a subset of seven schools in the 14-member conference has coalesced over what many of them describe as an untenable situation.”
“Officials from the seven schools, led by Florida State and Clemson, have met a handful of times over the past several months, with their lawyers examining the grant-of-rights to determine just how unbreakable it is,” Dellenger wrote.
Dellenger confirmed that Clemson and Florida State were helping to spearhead the group. Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported that NC State was also in that group.
Joining those three were North Carolina, Miami, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Dellenger confirmed that those were the list of schools he was referencing in his prior report.
Dellenger threw out one conceivable option, which was for the group that NC State is with to create another league, but he also noted that may not be feasible.
“If the seven agree to dissolve the current grant-of-rights agreement (we don’t know yet if this is a possibility), they may add a couple of more schools and begin their own association in hopes of it being more lucrative,” Dellenger noted. “This comes with its own issues, of course. You’d need a broadcast partner or private equity to fund such an endeavor. And, as one official asks, “Will it really be that much more lucrative?”
The ACC is bind to a television contract with ESPN that extends another 13 years and is at risk of falling at least $30 million behind the financial behemoth conferences of the SEC and Pac-12.
Estimates by Navigate suggest that in 2029, the SEC will be paying out $105.3 million per school and the Big Ten $94.5 million. Meanwhile the Pac-12 would be next at $56.5 million, followed by the ACC at $55.3 million and the Big 12 at $51.9 million.
However, that analysis was before USC and UCLA, arguably the two most valuable properties of the Pac-12, defected.
The question NC State and other ACC teams face is the viability of being competitive in a conference that is tied down so long to what will be an increasingly below-market deal.
However, there may not be many simple solutions. There is no guarantee the Big 10 and SEC would have an interest in adding some teams, for instance.
NC State officials are in Amelia Island this week for the ACC spring meetings, where one of the top topics will be unequal revenue sharing.
