Sources: Cal, Stanford to ACC hits ‘obstructions’

Pete Thamel Andrea Adelson Close Andrea Adelson ESPN Senior Citizen Author ACC reporter. Signed up with ESPN.com in 2010. Graduate of the University of Florida.Aug 9,

2023, 09:55 PM ET

After ACC presidents

• satisfied Wednesday
• night, the pursuit of Cal and
• Stanford for conference membership”hit substantial obstructions, “sources told ESPN.No vote was taken, but conversations about expansion among the league presidents are expected to continue as they wrestle with the very best method to position the league into the future, sources

  said.Talks about Cal and Stanford picked up after the Pac-12 disintegrated last week, but there had actually constantly been long odds the schools would sign up with the conference since there is not a substantial financial value include.

  For a league that is looking at a looming revenue space with the SEC and Big Ten that might reach$ 30 million annually, including earnings needs to be a major factor for consideration.SMU likewise had actually been bandied about as a possible addition to the ACC, and those conversations aren’t headed anywhere, either, sources said. Cal and Stanford stay far more appealing to a faction of league presidents since of their academic and brand worth, although they would not bring in a financial windfall.Sources confirmed one school that has been promoting the addition of Cal and Stanford is Notre Dame, which is a member in the ACC in all sports except football. Notre Dame does get a vote on growth, and it has a long history with Stanford. The fit from an Olympics sports

  point of view is appealing, too. But numerous athletic directors have actually questioned why anybody in the league would listen to Notre Dame due to the fact that the Irish remain so unfaltering in remaining independent.Editor’s Picks 2 Related That was simply one of the dynamics at play Wednesday. The day began with multiple sources suggesting they believed presidents might be ready to vote Cal and Stanford in due to the fact that their discussions had already included numerous days. One source suggested growth could assist boost the security of the league long-lasting.

  “It’s a numbers game,” the source stated.”Variety of league members.” Given the method some ACC schools have actually studied the media grant of rights, it could be reasoned that including members might assist strengthen the league if there were any defections– even though their additions would not be a big financial win.By Wednesday evening, nevertheless, it ended up being clear there were inadequate presidents willing to state yes to even take a vote. With 15 schools of various sizes and different interests, there was insufficient to coalesce around one strategy. The capacity of programs leaving has the more established schools within the league considering what the next iteration of the ACC might appear like, making unanimity almost impossible

  to reach within the space. For the ACC to vote in Cal and Stanford, it would require the approval of three-fourths of the conference’s presidents/chancellors, which suggests 12 of the 15 schools.The ACC presidents had met Tuesday morning about Cal and Stanford, but sources stated at the time that the league was” still examining “the prospective additions, without any choices expected imminently and another call of the athletic directors to further dig into the finances expected in the future. The athletic directors had actually satisfied Monday as part of the preliminary set of exploratory calls.The ACC’s considerations on Cal and Stanford have actually come amidst a remarkable moment, as numerous unhappy schools

  need to make a decision within the next week about whether they wish to leave their league.There is a due date Tuesday for schools to alert the ACC if they wish to leave and alter conferences for the 2024 season, a date that has actually been highlighted since of Florida State’s singing misery about league earnings. (Likewise complicating matters was that 7 schools– FSU, Clemson, Miami, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech– were interacting about options outside the ACC earlier this year.)While the basic expectations stay that no school will leave right now, the mere possibility and FSU’s vocal unrest leave the conference

  in a muddled place.The ACC has been generally peaceful throughout the current ripples of realignment. The SEC strengthened itself 2 summertimes earlier, with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma following year. The Big Ten has added USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington in the previous 13 months, with all of them likewise showing up next year. The Big 12 has included 4 news schools– Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah– in current weeks, and they likewise will debut in their new league next year.