Penn State, West Virginia dwarf Pitt, ACC revenue
ESPN has a feature article on the financial challenges facing new ACC commissioner Jim Phillips. When four power conferences are beating your conference in annual revenue distribution per member, your conference is in trouble. Pat Narduzzi may not be alarmed but other ACC football coaches are.
West Virginia will earn $37 million in revenue distribution from the Big Twelve, which ranks third in the Power Five hierarchy. Andrea Adelson and David Hale put it this way:
“The SEC and Big Ten remain the dominant financial forces in college football. From TV deals, merchandising, league championship games and bowl revenue, the two conferences sent member schools about $45 million and $54 million, respectively, in 2018-19 (the last year for which data is publicly available). The ACC, meanwhile, distributed at least $27 million to each school that year.”
Part of the problem facing ACC revenue is the lackluster performance of its football members except Clemson. In 2016, Pitt played nationally televised games against Penn State and Clemson, both wins, and both boosts to the ACC’s reputation. Pitt beat #2 Miami in 2017 and nationally ranked Central Florida in 2020. Overshadowing those are beatdowns administered by Clemson in the ACC championship game and the Covid-altered season of 2020 and under Pat Narduzzi, Pitt has no wins over Notre Dame. Bowl losses in the Pinstripe and Sun Bowls particularly hurt Pitt and the ACC’s reputation.
Along with Pitt, Miami, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech have all choked in high profile games. Florida State blew into Heinz Field for Pitt’s ACC opener and won a national title but is now flailing. How long can the ACC depend on Clemson to buoy the financial fortunes of the other 14 teams? How long can the ACC allow Notre Dame to joy ride for five football contests a year after saving the Irish in 2020?
In recent high-profile contests with Penn State, Pitt is 1-3. Imagine the national prestige and possible national ranking that would have occurred if Pitt had gone 4-0 or 3-1? Is the Pitt football program run by Pat Narduzzi increasing Pitt’s value to the ACC and, subsequently, the value of the ACC nationally?
As fans we celebrate ACC revenues after earning a pittance in the old Big East. The revenue gap, however, is felt by ACC conference members who worry the Duke-North Carolina basketball conference will never put football first, never be more than the last place Power 5 team in terms of generating revenue and national respect.
Seeing Pitt field its best baseball and volleyball teams ever is gratifying and a source of pride for all of us. But what Pitt and the ACC needs is sustained success on the football field with 10-win seasons and national rankings and a basketball team that does not embarrass the university and conference.
ESPN has a feature article on the financial challenges facing new ACC commissioner Jim Phillips. When four power conferences are beating your conference in annual revenue distribution per member, your conference is in trouble. Pat Narduzzi may not be alarmed but other ACC football coaches are.
West Virginia will earn $37 million in revenue distribution from the Big Twelve, which ranks third in the Power Five hierarchy. Andrea Adelson and David Hale put it this way:
“The SEC and Big Ten remain the dominant financial forces in college football. From TV deals, merchandising, league championship games and bowl revenue, the two conferences sent member schools about $45 million and $54 million, respectively, in 2018-19 (the last year for which data is publicly available). The ACC, meanwhile, distributed at least $27 million to each school that year.”
Part of the problem facing ACC revenue is the lackluster performance of its football members except Clemson. In 2016, Pitt played nationally televised games against Penn State and Clemson, both wins, and both boosts to the ACC’s reputation. Pitt beat #2 Miami in 2017 and nationally ranked Central Florida in 2020. Overshadowing those are beatdowns administered by Clemson in the ACC championship game and the Covid-altered season of 2020 and under Pat Narduzzi, Pitt has no wins over Notre Dame. Bowl losses in the Pinstripe and Sun Bowls particularly hurt Pitt and the ACC’s reputation.
Along with Pitt, Miami, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech have all choked in high profile games. Florida State blew into Heinz Field for Pitt’s ACC opener and won a national title but is now flailing. How long can the ACC depend on Clemson to buoy the financial fortunes of the other 14 teams? How long can the ACC allow Notre Dame to joy ride for five football contests a year after saving the Irish in 2020?
In recent high-profile contests with Penn State, Pitt is 1-3. Imagine the national prestige and possible national ranking that would have occurred if Pitt had gone 4-0 or 3-1? Is the Pitt football program run by Pat Narduzzi increasing Pitt’s value to the ACC and, subsequently, the value of the ACC nationally?
As fans we celebrate ACC revenues after earning a pittance in the old Big East. The revenue gap, however, is felt by ACC conference members who worry the Duke-North Carolina basketball conference will never put football first, never be more than the last place Power 5 team in terms of generating revenue and national respect.
Seeing Pitt field its best baseball and volleyball teams ever is gratifying and a source of pride for all of us. But what Pitt and the ACC needs is sustained success on the football field with 10-win seasons and national rankings and a basketball team that does not embarrass the university and conference.
