I've been reading along, and thinking that a conference has longevity just because of one media rights deal is hubris, especially when many of the schools are already looking for a way out. If you can't see the direction the sport is going towards (money grabbing), I don't know what to tell you bud. There are only ~2-5 really value revenue producing schools in the ACC for athletics (FSU, Clemson, maybe UNC, Miami, Duke in basketball). That is not a recipe for longevity.
It’s not easy to get a clear picture on revenue for each school. Accounting varies a lot. WRAL did one of the better write ups recently at
https://www.wral.com/story/the-acc-s-future-is-uncertain-the-money-tells-you-why/20413637/.
There are some solid charts and graphs in that article. Looking at what they wrote before, you could see the P12 crash coming up in the graphs.
There are some other numbers out there too. Depending on where you look, you might see Clemson at the top, or maybe FSU, or maybe someone else. Louisville might be one of the top schools, or more in the middle. Overall, the ACC seems to be third in per-school revenue—not just from media rights, but also from donations and ticket sales.
GT is down towards the bottom of the conference in revenue lately, but the last two years were two bad basketball seasons for Pastner, and we’re all aware of recent football history—that will affect attendance and donations and product sales.
If you do look at revenue numbers reported to the Department of Education, Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville, and other schools do a lot better than the typical Big 12 school. The Big 12 just gained several southwestern schools, but they lost Texas and Oklahoma—they came out way behind in that trade.
Again, if I’m looking at NUMBERS, I’m looking at what’s happening to TV, Cable, and Streaming—and they have a painful financial trajectory. That’s fundamental for everyone, including the SEC.
If I’m looking at qualitative factors, the last decade or more of inaction from the NCAA is what bothers me. I get no indication that there is thoughtful planning or leadership there—which is bad news for all of college sports. College sports is facing disruption and turbulence, and the pilots seem to be asleep and unprepared.
This conversation has been going on in this board for years, and you’re jumping in late. There are facts that have been discussed that you probably haven’t seen.