The Atlantic Coast Conference is reportedly turning toward conference realignment once again.
According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, “a series of meetings will be held this week to further vet and discuss different financial models that would come with the additions” of Cal, Southern Methodist University and Stanford.
And according to Ralph Russo of The Associated Press, conversations are “gaining momentum” when it comes to Cal, SMU and Stanford becoming potential members of the ACC.
The ACC has been largely unimpacted by conference realignment in recent years. The Big Ten will expand to 18 programs and the Big 12 and Southeastern conferences will up to 16 apiece beginning in 2024 while the ACC will not see change. That could be different over time.
The increased discussions come nearly a week after several of the programs of question, SMU and Stanford, enlisted the “big guns” and have supporters such as Condoleezza Rice lobbying for the schools to become new members of the ACC.
According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports, one new financial model of the additions of Cal, SMU and Stanford would project “a financial boon of roughly $72 million in annual additional revenue for the conference.”
Cal and Stanford are proposing to “take a significantly reduced revenue distribution for multiple years, starting at about 30%,” while SMU “is proposing to take no distribution for as many as seven years,” according to Dellenger.
Finances remain near the center of discussions according to multiple reports. Yet to be addressed is “a performance pool for success initiatives,” according to Thamel.
Twelve of the 15 ACC programs must vote in approval to add another school to its conference. Though, there are four programs already against the potential expansion, and this, too, could change over time.
No meeting of the full board of presidents and chancellors has been scheduled, according to Russo, but the ACC is “trying to arrange a meeting of its athletic directors” for sometime this week, perhaps Thursday.
