But the decision lies with ESPN, who owns the media rights to The ACC. They are paying peanuts for that content and they have it under lock and key until 2036. For ESPN, bad things happen if they crack open the ACC contract: Some of the ACC schools (currently earning less than $40 million per year) will become members of The SEC and will get a huge pay raise at ESPN's expense. Some other ACC schools will join The B1G where they too will get a huge pay raise at the expense of both ESPN and whomever has the rest of the B1G rights. If The B1G manages to acquire properties like UVa, UNC, Goergia Tech, FSU, all of a sudden the B1G occupies the Southeastern advertising footprint. That not only increases the B1G ad revenue, it diminishes ESPN's ad rates. ESPN currently has a monopoly on The Southeastern USA and that is worth a ton of money in TV ads. They got The ACC on cheap and they,re going to keep it that way as long as possible. ESPN is waiting for a disposition on the B1G rights before moving on to The Big 12 and possibly The PAC. Those latter two expire in 2025, The B1G in 2024. ESPN will bid for a piece of the B1G package, but it will be expensive. They need The B1G because their SEC/ACC footprint is regional. Their national advertisers demand to be in The B1G footprint. If The B1G pushes the price beyond ESPN's budget (could happen because of the multiple bidders) ESPN may take a pass and use the money instead to grab all the other properties they can and patch together a national footprint. Neither ESPN nor The B1G wants to do that; they need each other. This is why ESPN will not voluntarily release The ACC from their media contract. It will take some type of risky rebellion on the part od ACC schools and the tacit help of The B1G.