ACC votes to add Cal, Stanford and SMU into the league

By Jerry Ratcliffe

After weeks of debates and meetings, ACC presidents voted Friday morning to add Stanford, California and SMU into the conference, making it an 18-team league beginning in 2024-25.

In order to expand, 12 of the 15 presidents had to vote yes, which indicated that at least one school changed its opinion from a straw poll taken two weeks ago. According to sources, NC State changed its vote to yes.

Previously, Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina and NC State reportedly blocked expansion with a hard “no.” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips refused to conduct an official vote until he had enough yes votes to approve the new schools.

UNC’s board of trustees issued a statement on Thursday that revealed it was against adding schools from the West Coast, noting the complications and costs of sending athletic teams across the country for competition.

With the additions, ESPN will now pay the ACC an additional $50 to $72 million per year for the conference to distribute at the league’s discretion. SMU has reportedly agreed not to accept any ACC revenue for the next five-to-seven years, while Cal and Stanford would take a reduced amount of the pot, reportedly only around a 30-percent share.

Should the annual payout be the minimum $50-million figure, that adds up to $2.9 million per school. The league could use the new funds to reward teams that excel in postseason or to pay for additional travel expenses.

Some observers believe the ACC presidents decided to approve the expansion as a protective measure just in case FSU and Clemson decide to leave the conference, as has been widely speculated. One Florida State board member was quoted as saying, “not if, but when” FSU makes an exit in order to seek more money from another league.

Apparently should any ACC members leave the conference, ESPN’s media rights deal with the league would allow the network to renegotiate its payout, should the conference drop to below 15 members. Should that be the case, the ACC would have to scramble to add schools that it might not necessarily want in the league out of desperation.

With that in mind, the ACC wanted to add at least Stanford and Cal and not have to make a grab for numerous “Group of Five” schools at that time. Instead, the league has added two “Power Five” schools in Stanford and Cal, along with a G5 school in SMU, which desperately wanted to join a P5 conference.

With the additions, the ACC is now bi-coastal, adding the San Francisco Bay and Dallas TV markets.