ACC Adds Stanford, Cal, and SMU as New Members for 2024-25 School Year
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has made a decision regarding expansion after weeks of discussions. On Friday, the conference officially announced that Stanford, Cal, and SMU will join as new members in the 2024-25 school year.
The key to the final approval was the financial agreements reached between the ACC and the three new members. Sources have stated that SMU has agreed to accept no ACC media rights revenue for nine years, while Stanford and Cal have agreed to join as partial members with a significantly reduced revenue share initially. This arrangement satisfied the current ACC members, who voted in favor of the additions during a meeting on Friday.
With the inclusion of Stanford, Cal, and SMU, the ACC will now have a footprint stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, joining the Big Ten as the only power conferences with members on both coasts. These three schools are the first additions to the ACC since Louisville joined in 2014.
The invitations from the ACC are significant for Cal and Stanford, as their options were limited after six Pac-12 schools left the league earlier this summer. Despite the uncertain nature of the process in recent weeks, the two schools had been holding out hope for an invite from the ACC. The league required the support of 12 out of its 15 members for expansion, and a straw poll taken in mid-August showed 11 yeses and four dissenters. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips has been working on financial models and addressing concerns in order to secure the necessary votes.
However, not all ACC members were in favor of the expansion. The chair and vice-chair of the UNC Board of Trustees released a statement expressing opposition to the move due to concerns about travel distances and income disparity among ACC members. This statement was seen as an attempt to pressure UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz into voting against expansion. Ultimately, UNC voted against the addition of Stanford, Cal, and SMU, while NC State flipped its vote to support the expansion.
The financial agreements between the ACC and the new members have made expansion possible while ensuring that the revenue distributed to current ACC members will not decrease. In fact, the addition of Stanford, Cal, and SMU is expected to create a pool of over $50 million in new money that will be distributed among the existing members starting in 2024-25. This new revenue will also be used to reward schools for on-field performance, helping to close the financial gap with other conferences.
As part of their membership, Stanford, Cal, and SMU will be required to sign the ACC’s grant of rights, which binds schools to the conference until 2036. While they will receive little or no media rights revenue, the three schools will still receive other league revenue tied to the College Football Playoff and the NCAA tournament.
The ACC’s expansion is a significant move for the conference, allowing it to strengthen its position and ensure a strong future. The addition of Stanford and Cal, prestigious academic institutions with elite Olympic sport programs, adds to the conference’s reputation. Meanwhile, SMU sees this as an historic milestone for their institution and an opportunity to establish their athletics program on a national level.
The ACC’s decision to expand comes in the aftermath of major conference realignment, with several Pac-12 schools leaving for the Big Ten and Big 12. Stanford and Cal were hopeful of landing in the ACC to avoid having to step down to a Group of 5 league.
Overall, the ACC’s expansion is seen as a positive move that will benefit both the conference and its new members. With a footprint that now stretches from coast to coast, the ACC is positioning itself as one of the premier power conferences in college athletics.