The new “success-based” revenue sharing is a promising development. It’s good to see Miami Athletic Director Dan Radakovich actively pushing the envelope. The gap between the ACC and the B1G Ten or SEC will only grow over the next 13 years, and the temptation to leave the ACC will also grow each year as the exit penalty decreases. But the total pot size for distribution is still dwarfed by the pots belonging to the B1G Ten and the SEC, and the ACC’s pot size is more or less locked in through 2036.

Yes, Miami should earn more as long as it continues to be in the top half of the league in viewership. The unequal revenue sharing appears to be a stop-gap compromise while the Big-XII, Pac-12, SEC, and B1G Ten continue playing musical chairs. This shift is widely expected to benefit the “Magnificent 7” because, with apologies to Duke basketball, these schools have historically generated the best ratings for the conference. Now, the distribution will be “success-based” resulting in disproportionate payouts depending on which schools generate the best ratings. Previously, all conference members were receiving the same payouts from the media rights contracts. The implicit threat seemingly worked because the ACC approved a modified unequal revenue sharing model. If there’s no ACC, there may be nobody holding their media rights. A mass exodus by these schools would surely destroy the ACC. The “Magnificent 7” strategy seems straightforward. Nevertheless, the Hurricanes aren’t so helpless.Ĭlemson, FSU, Miami, UNC, NC State, Virginia & Virginia Tech are “The Magnificent 7” ACC schools, sources told These schools, reported, have met in past several months, w/lawyers examining grant-of-rights to determine just how unbreakable it is.…- Brett McMurphy May 15, 2023 All that seemed like a good idea to avoid poaching back in 2014 after Maryland left for the B1G Ten, but this deal presumed that the ACC would do a good job of selling those media rights.

Put another way, should Miami ever leave the ACC it couldn’t sell its media rights because the ACC, not Miami, owns those rights through 2036. That deal lasts through 2036 and includes a “grant of rights” which contractually transferred Miami and each of its conference brethren’s media rights to the ACC. Meanwhile, Miami is stuck with the ACC in one of the worst media rights deals in modern history. That’s not an even replacement for Oklahoma and Texas, but it’s not bad and should serve to stabilize the Big-XII which has had to endure: Missouri, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Texas heading to the SEC Nebraska joining the B1G Ten and, awkwardly enough, Colorado joining the Pac-12. Recent reports from the Swaim Show are that Colorado and Arizona are jumping ship to the Big-XII.

With the imminent departure of Pac-12 stalwarts USC and UCLA to more lucrative B1G Ten pastures, the flagship western conference appears to be on life support. A couple weeks ago, our SB Nation colleague Joseph Acosta noted that ESPN dropped out of those negotiations and Acosta astutely hypothesized that the Pac-12 is screwed. Those negotiations are reportedly not going well. Media deals are the major driving force behind conference realignment, and the fledgling Pac-12 is now negotiating its next media deal. It will also be the one-and-only season where those teams will play conference games alongside Oklahoma and Texas before the Sooners and Longhorns depart for the SEC on July 1, 2024. This upcoming season will be the first for a new look Big-XII featuring the addition of Cincinnati, Houston, UCF, and BYU.

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