PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The ACC is soon not only going to be teams on the Atlantic Coast, but Pacific Coast and even in the heart of Texas. This could all happen by next season.
According to several reports, ACC presidents and chancellors met Friday morning and voted to add Stanford University, the University of California and Southern Methodist University in 2024. That would balloon the conference to 18 members with all playing football full-time except for Notre Dame. ESPN reported NC State flipped it’s vote to yes after originally dissenting with North Carolina, Florida State and Clemson which allowed it to pass.
This will change the revenue model for the conference which is something Florida State has threatened to leave the ACC about. Clemson also has expressed dissatisfaction with the current revenue structure. According to Yahoo Sports, Stanford and Cal will take a reduced media rights share of around 30% and SMU will forgo all media rights for the first seven years since it’s moving over from the American Athletic Conference.
It’s expected the move will add around $72 million in additional media rights revenue. The league could then use around $50-60 million as part of a new revenue distribution model, according to multiple reports, or they could create an incentive program based on performance.
For Pitt teams what was the longest trip of 1,177 miles (to Miami) now turns into 2,608 miles to Stanford, 2,572 miles to Cal and 1,228 miles to SMU. The Boston College baseball team will travel 3,085 miles to play Cal and the Miami volleyball team will go 3,024 miles to play the Cardinal.