Reports: ACC had meeting set on adding Pac-12 schools before 'Big' departures |
Friday was a wild day in college sports that saw a 'Power 5' conference consumed by two of its peers to the tune of five schools in one day.
And the ACC was reportedly in the mix for a taste of the action as well. Multiple reports filtered out Friday morning and afternoon to watch for a potential merger of the ACC and the remaining Pac-12 schools, but after the Western league had moments of appearing like it would stay together, Oregon and Washington were quickly ushered into the Big Ten and that opened the gates for Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to join Colorado in the Big 12. Yahoo's Ross Dellenger says the ACC was scheduled to meet Friday night over an expansion plan, which he said included exploring adding 5-7 Pac-12 schools. News & Observer reporter Andrew Carter confirmed that report and confirmed the idea that that kind of Western expansion is unlikely now for the league. Carter reported that an ACC/Pac-12 merger would've cost ACC schools between $1-3 million per year in TV revenue, saying that "no remaining P12 school brought value to the league." As it stands for 2024, the Southeastern Conference is adding Texas and Oklahoma for 16 schools, the Big 12 is at 16 as well and the Big Ten has 18 programs, while the ACC has its 14 football members still in place. The Pac-12 has four remaining schools left with Oregon State, Washington State, Stanford and Cal. The Mountain West has been seen as an expansion target for the former power league, but Dellenger reports that adding any school by 2024 would cost $34 million per, which makes a merger possibly more likely. Florida State brought up the ACC's potential conference realignment issues on Wednesday with a board meeting where multiple members said such an exit was a matter of time, despite the school's entry into a Grant of Rights agreement with the ACC through 2036. ESPN did some further reporting on the situation after Friday's events: Florida State has had both an in-house legal team and an outside legal team study the specific contract language over the course of the last year. This is a document that has never been challenged in court, but one that in all likelihood will be at some point in time. Why? Because the grant of rights not only gives the ACC control over every school's media rights money, it gives the conference control over its actual media rights -- meaning the right to broadcast all home games in all sports. Florida State may be willing to take the league to court to challenge the grant of rights, but legal battles take time and money -- and this is one the ACC will fight, since it wants to keep FSU and believes in the strength of the GOR document. And how attractive will FSU be to other conferences with those legal questions hovering over them?... Presidents have already approved a success initiative model, which would reward on-field success in football and basketball. But shifting revenue distribution based on ratings and media metrics has not gained the traction Florida State believes it warrants. It remains uncertain whether any ACC president is willing to change their mind on that specific issue, especially given how vocal the Seminoles have been about it -- both publicly and behind closed doors. ACC presidents were scheduled to meet tonight to further discuss the league’s latest expansion plan, sources tell @YahooSports. Such a merger would’ve cost ACC schools between $1-$3 million per year. No remaining P12 school brought value to league. Re-forming the Pac-12 with acquisitions is a long shot. The most likely candidates are from the Mountain West, where the exit fee to leave in time for 2024 is $34 million... per school.
Recent Big 12 acquisitions likely ended any Westward expansion plans. The league seriously explored adding 5-7 Pac-12 schools.
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