Realignment Changing College Football As We Know It

By: Harry Crowther

Oklahoma and Texas started the realignment snowball effect in college football when it was announced they would be joining the SEC in 2024. Two more large dominoes have since fallen with west-coast powers UCLA and USC leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024. A landscape is emerging with the SEC and Big Ten on top of the mountain. But why is this all happening and what does it mean for the ACC and its top schools?

It’s all about money. Big brands want to play in leagues with big money, and the Big Ten and the SEC have more than the other power five conferences through new, lucrative TV deals. The Big Ten has a new TV deal beginning this season with CBS, NBC and Fox worth more than $7 billion. The SEC starts an exclusive broadcast partnership with ESPN in 2024 that will pay $3 billion.

The ACC, meanwhile, is locked in a lesser deal with ESPN through 2036. While the conference will implement a new revenue sharing model in 2024 that will reward postseason success, the figures will still not match those of the SEC and Big Ten. Under the new revenue distribution model, top schools will still receive around $20 million less than every SEC program. 

This leaves the conference and its top brands (Florida State and Clemson among others) in a precarious position as they try to keep up in college football’s revenue race. The ACC could look to negotiate with ESPN on a restructuring of the rights deal to hold the conference together and better compete with the new ‘power two.’ Any such negotiation would not be easy and legal battles could result. 

Schools like Florida State and Clemson have had no choice but to explore moving leagues given the ACC is becoming less and less financially viable. Rumors have been swirling over the last few days that the Seminoles and Tigers are preparing to jump to the Big Ten.

The realignment puzzle remains complicated. Schools have until Aug. 15 to notify the ACC of a departure and pay the $120 million exit fee or they must remain in the league for another two years. Those two years would be costly. If something is to happen, it must happen soon.