FSU ADVERTISEMENT: Lagging ACC revenue ‘needs to change’
Florida State athletic director Michael Alford informed his board of trustees on Friday that “something has to alter” when it pertains to closing the growing revenue gap with other conferences– a sign that one of the biggest brand names in the ACC is dissatisfied with the existing structure.In a phone interview with ESPN later on Friday, Alford said he chose to make his remarks after recent ACC winter season meetings in which athletic directors and presidents talked about an unequal earnings sharing model at length with no agreement progressing about what to do.Editor’s Picks At problem: The ACC will fall back both the SEC and Big Ten in profits by about$30 million each year when
their particular brand-new tv agreements kick in (Huge 10 in 2023, SEC in 2024).”Something needs to alter since we can not complete nationally being$30 million behind every year, “Alford said.
“It’s not one year. We’re talking about $30 million compounded every year. “The ACC is locked into its television handle ESPN through 2036. The league also has all schools tied together with a grant of rights
that lasts the length of the agreement. In the most current offered monetary filing, the ACC distributed a record $578 million to its members for 2020-21. The SEC distributed$721.8 million in 2021-22, but that is before its brand-new offer kicks in.Based on a market valuation that he had commissioned, Alford told board members on Friday that FSU contributes roughly 15%of the value in the ACC’s media rights deal but the school just gets 7 %of the circulations as one of 14 complete members of the conference.Currently, the ACC disperses its profits equally among all 14 full-time members. But the conference decided to look at various uneven revenue circulation models after recent conference realignment had Oklahoma and Texas leave for the SEC
, and USC and UCLA sign up with the Big Ten. There has actually been speculation that the bigger brand names in the ACC might be next in line if there is another wave of expansion.The grant of rights is presently keeping the league together because any school that leaves would need to surrender its media payment and media rights. However at some time, that grant of rights could be challenged in court, especially if the earnings gap continues to grow without any relief in sight.