DTH Columns

Oct. 30, 2004 — Boost in revenue and exposure improves ACC

Last season, the ACC voted 7-2 to annex the entire Atlantic Coast with one goal in mind - becoming a dominant football conference.

Four ACC teams currently hold positions in the BCS Top 25. At last season's end, there were two.

Mission accomplished.

And Boston College, which is another reputable football program - it's currently the top vote-getter not in the AP Top 25 - joins the ACC next year.

The fully realized conference will have three perennial powers: Miami, Florida State and Virginia Tech; six teams that are well-regarded and occasionally great: B.C., Virginia, Maryland, Georgia Tech, N.C. State and Clemson; and three doormats: North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest.

That breakdown almost exactly mirrors those of the SEC and Big 12, the ACC's superconference rivals.

With the ACC now established as a "Big Three" conference, it already has begun to benefit from its new-found elite status.

A heightened public awareness of the ACC combined with the ready-and-willing TV executives from ESPN and ABC, who in May renegotiated the conference's television contract for a fat $258 million over the next seven seasons.

Not only is the ACC getting the proverbial mad cash, but it's also going to be getting as much or more football air time than any other conference in the country.

This is a bad thing?

And wait, there's more.

With 12 teams in the fold, the ACC gained the ability to host a conference championship game. According to the Associated Press, the winning bid reportedly totaled $7.7 million.

Based on a sample 2005 distribution on the BCS Web site, the ACC champion scores $14.4 million for playing in the BCS, provided it's not the Rose Bowl, in which case the figure would be $3.3 million.

The second ACC team in the BCS gets $4.5 million. The $9.9 million difference is spread among the six BCS conferences, netting about $1.6 million for the ACC.

Under this scenario, the ACC gains another $1.6 million from revenue sharing if another conference has two members participate in the BCS.

The grand total: $3.2 million directly to the conference, and $18.9 million for the two individual schools.

It's clear that college football now revolves around money. The ACC set out to become a dominant football conference and reap the rewards it sowed. It accomplished exactly that.

If you don't like it, you better get used to it - with all that cash piled in front of them, John Swofford and company will have trouble seeing your points.