As expected, the ACC Board of Directors has approved an eat-what-you-kill revenue model, the conference announced Wednesday.
Dubbed a "success incentive initiative," the program will award larger financial payouts to schools that represent the conference by reaching and winning in the College Football Playoff and various NCAA tournaments.
A handful of ACC programs, most notably Florida State, have spent much of 2023 saber-rattling that the conference should reward them for their brand value. Florida State claims it drives 15 percent of the ACC's TV value, yet the current equal split gives them just 7 percent of the pie. “I make no bones about it that we’re the top brand in the conference,” FSU AD Michael Alford said recently. “And when you look at how they measure media contracts, with households, viewership and championships, we’re driving that viewership for our conference at a high rate."
The ACC's all-in contract with ESPN lasts through 2035-36, and a Grant of Rights contract (which could be invalidated in court... if anyone ever gathers the courage to try) lasts through then.
That set of facts has created undeniable restlessness across the conference, especially with the SEC and Big Ten going to market again before the ACC. Per-school payouts are expected to have a $30 million per year split from the Power 2 to the ACC, and could grow larger next decade.
And so the "success incentive initiative" was born.
Money from the ACC TV deal and all other sources will continue to be split 14 ways, but funds earned via postseason success will be given disproportionally to those who earn it.
Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson on idea of #ACC weighted revenue sharing: “If revenue distribution is based on investment in football, and on the field success, I think that'd be great. And I think Wake Forest would be very comfortable with that model.”
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) May 16, 2023
The Pac-12's 2021 balance sheet showed that, in that conference, television rights fees accounted for $385 million of the league's $581 million in revenue, while postseason bowls and NCAA/conference funds totaled $38 million and change.
“The ACC Board of Directors continues to be committed to exploring all potential opportunities that will result in additional revenues and resources for the conference,” said ACC Board of Directors Chair and Duke president Vincent E. Price. “Today’s decision provides a path to reward athletic success while also distributing additional revenue to the full membership.”
It goes without saying, but the SSI is one of those plans where the devil is in the details, and so far there are precisely zero details. "The specifics of the plan are in progress and will be solidified in the coming months," the ACC's announcement said.
The SSI will not go into effect until the 2024-25 academic year.
Until then, stay tuned.