Highlights:
-
What was certain was there were votes in favor of expansion (Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Louisville, Miami, Georgia Tech) and votes opposed (Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina) and swing votes in between. Another administrator thought enough of the 15 voting presidents would swing to yes and get the required 12 to approve expansion.
Once the call started, it became clear that would not be the case. No official vote was taken. In straw polling, the fourth school opposed was NC State, according to multiple sources.
-Behind the scenes, however, the ACC was already having conversations about trying to add Cal, Stanford, Oregon and Washington -- discussions that had been taking place for well over a year. In fact, Duke president Vincent Price (serving as ACC board chair) reached out to Washington president Ana Mari Cauce last year to gauge interest in a partnership. Cauce declined, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions.
-"Cal and Stanford were probably from the presidents' perspective a better target than anybody else in the Pac-12 just because of the academic reputation," one administrator said. "The fact that Oregon and Washington left, OK that's fine, but these are two pretty good brands, so how do we integrate them into the league?"
- Multiple administrators in favor of the move described it this way: longer-term security in the event schools such as Florida State leave the conference. The Seminoles are not the only ones who have looked at their future and evaluated the grant of rights, which gives the ACC control over home broadcasts and media revenue through 2036. Six other schools had discussions with Florida State about the grant of rights and charting a path forward: Clemson, Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and NC State.
-While more athletic directors moved in favor of adding teams, they were still not completely aligned with the presidents. Some asked why there was urgency. For more than a year they had discussed having more than two teams from the West Coast in order to get any deal done, but demurred. Now they were OK with only two? One administrator pointed out that plenty of dominoes could fall, potentially starting when the Big Ten television contract comes up after the 2029-30 season, and the Big 12 deal is up the following year. Why the rush?
-
Why was NC State not in favor of expansion? The dynamics in the state of North Carolina provide a fascinating window into the North Carolina-NC State relationship. North Carolina is one of the most attractive schools in the country to both the SEC and Big Ten, should those conferences decide to expand further.
NC State holds power within the University of North Carolina System and the state legislature. Siding with North Carolina essentially signals the Wolfpack believe their future is tied with UNC.
-"We're at a point because of all these other moves on the chessboard that the consequences and risks of doing nothing start to seem worse than the consequences and risks of doing something."
-there is at least some hope in Tallahassee that discussions about changing the television revenue distribution might begin again, There is significant resistance among other ACC members, for obvious reasons. Few schools are willing to take less television money based on ratings and marketability.
Schools have privately questioned the brand and marketability data Florida State has touted, including its assertion that if conference revenues were removed, the Seminoles would rank No. 3 in the SEC and Big Ten in revenue generated.
