$250M Loss Confirmed for Top 2 ACC Teams After Notre Dame Gains Unfair Edge in New ESPN Clause

The ACC’s broadcasting deal with ESPN until 2027 was to provide substantial payments for its teams. But over the years it undoubtedly had been lagging behind the SEC and the Big 10. However, are monetary benefits the only thing driving college football now? Well, that seems to be the case, be it the NIL decision that has changed the landscape of college football drastically. Or the payments made by broadcasters to conferences. But, amidst all these financial intricacies driving college football, there’s a big revelation that may affect the two biggest teams of ACC in a significant way.

Well, the revenue-sharing in college football has always been a little puzzling for everyone. And why would it not? The SEC has its own deal that generated close to $853 Million in 2023 with an average distribution of $51.3 Million to its teams. Furthermore, the Big 10 generated $880 Million in the same year, averaging $60.3 Million average for its teams. Lastly, the ACC has $706 million in revenue and has given close to $45 million to its teams. The fundamental question then was asked by the two colleges of the ACC: Clemson and Florida State. What if they wanted to switch ships and join B1G or SEC to gain greater revenue?

Well, the question itself led to the lawsuit between the two teams and the ACC, but we’ll talk about that a bit later. Moving on, the big revelation that has happened involves ESPN triggering their contract clause to extend their broadcasting deal with ACC till 2036 which was to end in 2027. Discussions have also been ongoing on the prospect of increasing the number of games Notre Dame will play against the top ACC teams, which will expand to all other sports.

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement, “We are pleased to extend our media rights agreement with the ACC through 2036, continuing our longstanding relationship. We remain committed to serving the ACC, its member schools, student-athletes, and fans via comprehensive live game coverage, storytelling, and broad exposure across our unprecedented array of networks and platforms, including the ACC Network. The ACC is a pillar of ESPN’s leading commitment to college sports and we are thrilled to continue the partnership over the next decade”. 

ESPN notably had 20th Feb as the deadline to make the decision invoking a clause that would extend the partnership with ACC for 20 years starting in 2016 when the deal was signed. However, there is some speculation as to how the deal would actually benefit Clemson and FSU.

As reported on the College Football Addiction YouTube channel, which regularly hosts prominent football journalists and insiders, “It could be pretty terrible if the ACC doesn’t agree to the 2030- 31 time frame of letting teams out of the conference or reducing the penalties down to that point. The other part of this is the money aspect of this doesn’t really satisfy the needs in my opinion of Florida State and Clemson. Look at 2025, you can see that in 2025, there’s still a pretty large gap between the SEC making 74.9 million and the ACC making less than 40 million (average team pay)”.

For context, the statement is about how the shared deal will benefit teams like Notre Dame who already have their deal in place but will leave the two teams in a Financial conundrum. But, how much loss will they eventually make?

FSU and Clemson’s future in ACC

Well, as reported by the channel it could be around $250 Million dollar in the long term for Clemson and FSU, who were vying for a way out of ACC since December 2023. The channel reported, “Florida State and Clemson cannot make up enough of that Gap that $35 million gap this year (2025) and then that $50 million gap in 2030 (expected) if they go on for four, five, six years, making an average of $42 million a year less than their peers. You’re talking about almost a quarter of a billion dollars and that doesn’t even count how much money the SEC is going to make from the playoff when they likely have four auto bids coming up and Florida State’s ACC and Clemson’s ACC Miami’s ACC is probably only getting one maybe two teams in when we go to 14 teams“.

The statement poses a significant risk for the two programs to lose on their potential revenue growth over the years, thus lagging far behind the two teams. However, there are some seemingly positive aspects too reported in the media.

Amongst the positives is the proposal of a ‘Brand’ fund by the broadcaster that will only benefit the teams that help generate the maximum revenue. This would essentially mean that ACC teams like Clemson, FSU, Miami, and North Carolina will benefit from the proposal since they are at the top of the ACC food chain. Furthermore, there are speculations too about the lawsuits involving ACC and the two teams would ultimately be withdrawn. But, is it true?

Well, the two teams have been against ACC since 2023 to finalize the question: Who will own the broadcasting rights of the team’s games when they leave? Will it be ACC or the teams themselves? However, after the recent development, it is reported that the teams will benefit from the ‘fund’ proposed, which will likely alleviate their concerns about lesser revenue than SEC or Big10. While there is some truth to these claims, there hasn’t been an official update on the issue. But then comes the question of sustainability for Clemson and FSU in the long run if they remain in the ACC. The development is out and the final verdict will be seen in the weeks to come.