A little over two weeks ago, we said why Stanford and Cal should be considered for ACC expansion.
It’s about 2 things now. It is about survival and money. It’s the ugly truth, but that’s the way it is.
The additions of Stanford and Cal give the ACC 16 full-time member schools. If even up to 6 schools maybe even 8 eventually leave you still have a viable conference. It’s about sheer numbers, and it’s the strategy the Big 12 has taken, and it’s a smart one in 2023.
We didn’t include SMU at the time, as their offer to basically join for free had not yet released.
ACC ramps up Cal, Stanford, SMU talks, per ESPN sources. Full @espn story on what’s next for potential ACC expansion, including timeline and variables for a decision. https://t.co/rXOmSN2oAK
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 23, 2023
So how much is it worth?
ACC stands to make $72M in additional revenue from ESPN if it expands by three, sources tell @YahooSports.
Given $$ concessions from Cal, Stanford & SMU, a large portion (~$55M) would be distributed annually, likely via athletic-performance incentiveshttps://t.co/JBSAB4DG8g
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 23, 2023
So $55 Million should you divide among 14 schools, give Notre Dame their 20% share, and that’s still nearly $4 Million per ACC school, or as Dellenger says this is part of the athletic-performance incentive. We haven’t even gone into ACCN increases with being in the highly populated states of California and Texas which should we’ll say conservatively gets that revenue up another $1 Million per school.
How the ACC may divide this up is open, and the Cal, Stanford, SMU addition is still not a lock – though I’d put the odds at 70% of happening at this point.
Detractors will say it’s geographic nonsense. Sure it is, but when West Virginia spent years with their nearest opponent over 800 miles away, geography considerations died.
Other criticisms like football dilution and the short-term nature of even the marginal revenue increase are valid.
The fact the ACC isn’t likely getting an infusion of money in one move or this quickly any other way.
So it’s a no-brainer move, as former FSU QB EJ Manual said on ACC Radio late last week.
