Syracuse Orange: ESPN extending contract with ACC will provide league with more stability

The Atlantic Coast Conference, where our beloved Syracuse Orange is a member, has a way to go before it can catch up to the Big Ten Conference and the Southeastern Conference when it comes to television revenue.

However, something transpired in recent days that, hopefully, should provide the ACC with a more solid footing for the foreseeable future, national observers and media members who cover the league say.

A press release from January 30 noted that ESPN has exercised an option to extend its media rights deal with the ACC and continue airing league sports on its family of networks through the 2035-36 academic year.

"We appreciate the ongoing partnership with ESPN and their enduring commitment that further solidifies the ACC as a premier league in all facets," ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said in the statement.

The Syracuse Orange and its ACC peers still lag behind other conferences.

This news is important for the ACC and its 18 members, including the three new additions for the 2024-25 season, California, SMU and Stanford. Top ACC writers David Hale and Andrea Adelson of ESPN, in article this week, noted: "ESPN had until Feb. 1 to pick up the option on a 20-year contract signed in 2016 that helped launch the ACC Network. Had ESPN declined, the partnership would have ended after the 2027 season."

The ACC has already been on somewhat shaky footing of late amid all of the conference realignment. The Big Ten and the SEC have only continued to get stronger, and some observers also say that the Big 12 Conference - through its recent additions - has arguably surpassed the ACC to reside as the country's No. 3 power league.

Plus, in football, the ACC proved awful during the most recent bowl season, even with Syracuse football notching a bowl win. And the ACC keeps on faring poorly on a national scale in college basketball when compared to other leagues (save for Duke, which is ranked No. 2 and looks awesome).

As I've noted in several columns over the past year or so, the ACC has been engaged in legal battles with two of its members, Clemson and Florida State, due to various issues, such as the league's grant of rights deal with ESPN and potentially significant exit fees.

Hale and Adelson wrote that ESPN extending its television contract with the ACC "is a critical step toward securing stability for the conference. With the television deal settled, the ACC is now working toward a settlement with Clemson and Florida State that could end those schools' ongoing lawsuits against the conference."

I sincerely hope that the ACC, Clemson and Florida State are able to settle their litigation, because these legal issues are an irritating distraction.

Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, another top college football writer, says that a revised scheduling arrangement being discussed would have ACC teams such as Florida State, Clemson and Miami - arguably the conference's biggest football brands - play more football games on a regular basis against Notre Dame, which is an independent in football and just advanced to the College Football Playoff national championship game.

In their story, Hale and Adelson say that a new revenue distribution model under possible consideration would put a portion of the ACC's television revenue into a fund where that money would get distributed every year to the schools that generate the most revenue for the ACC in football as well as men's and women's basketball. Per the ESPN report, conference members likely to benefit the most from such a fund include Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina.

One interesting thing to mention from the end of the ESPN story. As the ACC works toward resolving its lawsuits with Clemson and FSU, Hale and Adelson wrote: "As part of the settlement, Clemson and Florida State are asking the ACC to agree to reduce penalties for exiting the grant of rights after 2031, when TV contracts for the Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 are set to expire."