Yes, more people watch the SEC and Big Ten but not so many more that it should warrant the disparity it does. It all goes back to the early 2000s when the ACC made the decision to accept ESPN's re-up offer instead of going to the open market. They thought the ESPN money was good and they liked that ESPN was letting them let Raycom live. However, about a year or 2 later, the Pac 12 went to market and blew it away and people were like "what just happened?" TV money began to skyrocket. The ACC did the only thing they could do. They added 2 teams to get more money out of ESPN but not much more. Then, they added ND to get a little more. Then, they added ACCN to get a little more. But in getting these extra little bits of money instead of being patient and waiting to go to market, they've tied themselves up to 2036 and are stuck in a TV deal worth about $20 million per year compared to the Big Ten's $100 million.
Part of it is poor leadership, part of it was just bad luck but the ACC has had a string of losing streaks on the TV thing. The money is so disparate right now and there are many coveted teams and markets in the ACC, that if you're asking me to make a prediction, I'm going to say that eventually, 8 members vote to dissolve the league so they can go to the Big Ten or SEC without being hampered by a Grant of Rights. From ESPN's standpoint, they'd love the league to live because they're getting bargain basement programming but at this point, I dont see how that happens unless the dissolution is harder than just the majortity vote that seems to be required
Part of it is poor leadership, part of it was just bad luck but the ACC has had a string of losing streaks on the TV thing. The money is so disparate right now and there are many coveted teams and markets in the ACC, that if you're asking me to make a prediction, I'm going to say that eventually, 8 members vote to dissolve the league so they can go to the Big Ten or SEC without being hampered by a Grant of Rights. From ESPN's standpoint, they'd love the league to live because they're getting bargain basement programming but at this point, I dont see how that happens unless the dissolution is harder than just the majortity vote that seems to be required