An excerpt from their “What’s next for CFB realignment” article
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Is the ACC actually panicking?
The ACC had an AD meeting Friday morning via Zoom that was scheduled in response to Thursday’s realignment news. One AD described the tenor of the meeting as much better than anticipated, given the anxiety surrounding the conference (and several others) in light of the Big Ten’s growing power.Commissioner Jim Phillips presented a strong, positive front, the AD said, as he reminded all of the strength and stability of the league relative to every other conference outside of the Big Ten and SEC, and as he stressed the stability that the league’s Grant of Rights provides.
No one on the call was naïve, and ADs brought up multiple potential avenues to explore in the imminent future, be that to expand themselves, to align themselves with the the Big 12 or Pac-12, or to stand pat, which seems like the least appealing current option during a period that calls for action.
Swarbrick was described as an active participant on the call, answering questions as they were asked to him. That probably means nothing in the grand scheme of the Irish’s relationship with the ACC, but it certainly contributed to a “business as usual” vibe for the conference. For now.
And about that grant of rights — it stretches to June 30, 2036. That agreement binds the schools’ media rights to the conference, and unless it can be broken, it would make the schools worthless to another conference. The Athletic examined conference grant of rights deals — including the ACC’s original deal agreed upon in 2013 — in an analysis of whether these allegedly irrevocable dealscan be broken. Short answer: It would be pretty difficult.
But that doesn’t mean certain ACC schoolsaren’t examining their options. The league’s members are locked into a deal with ESPN that lasts 14 more years. That’s an awfully long time. Heck, 14 years ago, the Big East was still a football conference. Nebraska and Texas A&M were still in the Big 12. The league that just turned into the Pac-10 on Thursday was … the Pac-10. It’s a tough pill to swallow to realize that Rutgers may soon be receiving more than twice as much from its conference as Clemson or Miami receive from their conference. This becomes especially contentious because some schools seem much more invested in football success than others.
If the grant of rights remains ironclad, expect several ACC schools to push for uneven revenue sharing based upon on-field/court success. Administrators at several schools feel they shouldn’t have to foot the bill to carry the flag for the league while other schools collect the money and don’t try as hard to contribute to the conference’s success. — Matt Fortuna and Andy Staples
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Frankly that last paragraph makes a lot of sense to me
