It’s real

The fund raising arm staffing needs to be a different skill set. Fund raising to corporations and very wealthy is differerent the the approach to average small donors. Its how you deliver the message and selling return of investment. We see that skill sets in major non profits.

This is a high level average of annual total athletic dept expenses per conference. So all ACC public schools averaged together vs all SEC publics, etc. I’ll post the data by individual school next week so that everyone can see just how much bigger the top tier is compared to everyone else. ** Edited by HokieAl at 4/6/2026, 4:47:24 PM

get a $40+ million dollar head start on your fundraising efforts before you even get started, every single year. This was the decision ESPN made - Disney/ESPN made the conscious decision to relegate every single program in the ACC to second tier status as soon as that deal with the SEC was finalized.

you fall further and further behind. ESPN is not going to help the ACC.

SEC and Big 10 programs for any given player in any given scenario. I don't see a realistic situation where any ACC program is going to make up a $40 million+ deficit that ALWAYS exists, and that's setting aside that money isn't the only consideration. ACC programs are basically never on free OTA broadcast, and are basically never on ESPN/ESPN2. They basically only play on the CW, ACCN, ESPNews, and ESPN+. Big time players want to play in big time games on big time networks. That basically eliminates the ACC as a viable option; it's the last option for those players. "Oh, I can't get PT at an SEC or Big 10 program, I guess I'll go to the ACC and try to transfer out next year." And that's just one of many ways the system is now explicitly rigged in favor of the SEC and Big 10. When money is literally the only thing on the player's mind, can ACC programs get one player every now and then when they're also being courted by an SEC/Big 10 program? Yeah, I guess one player, maybe, in extremely factual scenarios. But, when it comes to modern day college football, you can't realistically compete on the national stage with one great player and a team of also-rans. You take that notion, and combine it with the fact that the very worst, least-competitive SEC program will always have a $40+ million dollar head start on football fundraising before you even get out of the gate, and you can see the major problem for any ACC program. They're saying the top SEC and Big 10 programs will be spending over $50 million on their football rosters. VT needs to pull $40 million out of thin air to even get to the very bottom of the baseline with Vanderbilt or Purdue. Then they have to raise even more millions of dollars to be able to keep up with Vanderbilt and Purdue. Can Miami/FSU/Clemson play that game? Maybe. FSU is currently a huge mess, money or no money. Miami went to the championship last year, but the cocaine cowboy donors down there are going to have to come up with giant money each and every year. I think the answer when it comes to Clemson is a resounding no, which is why they're now returning to standard Clemson form. When all of a sudden everyone is paying their players, and nobody needs to launder a slush fund through the local Baptist mega church to do it, Clemson just coincidentally starts to look pedestrian. Yeah; it's not a coincidence.

VT has been leveraging them to invest in the academic/R&D side, but have culturally never orchestrated having a discussion on atheltics However, (knowing the bimbos' in athletic fund raising from Whit to the staff of hokie club), they do not impress a high rollar to invest in the atheltic product line. Actually CJF has more awareness and delivery to talk to these folks, succinctly discuss vision and goals, how he envision the way, and (also he has huge experience doing this), and from big givers perspective you see 1) someone who knows what he's talking about, 2) tells you where your money is going, 3)provides feedback on where money is going, and also he shakes the bureacracy to make sure they are doing what the givers expected. (the cultural problem from burress hall staff, and beauracy, and staff internal to athletic dept, they dont really like the idea of being told what to do, and accountability of the money that was given. The answer through the chain is, do what you are told from BOV down, or look for another job.

a substantial headstart. How are you calculating your figure as a $40MM headstart

And, I expect that it's only going to get worse and worse going forward.

other public information I have seen, the SEC is at approximately $72MM per school and the ACC is projected to be $45-$55MM per school with the unequal distributions.

40 million? Frankly, when you're having to come up with that every single year to even get to baseline with your competitors, then what's the difference? And, don't forget, both the Big 10 and Big 12's deals get re-negotiated before the ACC's.

but, it does matter for a variety of reasons whether it is $20, $30 or $40 MM, even if only for a few short years You are also correct they will renegotiate before the ACC but, not really sure that matters either as if things continue to progress according to current timetables sometime between 2029 and 2031 everything is likely to get shuffled before anyone renegotiates.

between 2029-2031. The current marriage isn't working. I honestly think, if nothing else, you're going to see the big brands taking a major gamble and do their own thing in an effort to get more money for themselves at the expense of penny ante programs like Wake Forest and Boston College, while disassociating from programs like Cal, Stanford, and SMU that they never wanted to associate with in the first place. I think this because it doesn't take many brain cells to figure out that when ESPN offers the ACC x amount of money for their media rights, that they're not paying that amount because they want to broadcast the Wake Forest, or Boston College, or SMU football programs. They're paying for the brands.

join the BE? Needs to be done but my question stands.

in 2030-2031, when the Big 12's media rights deal is set to expire. Call me crazy, but here's what I think is going to happen - The Big 10 are already over bloated with a significant amount of what isn't exactly blockbuster content (UCLA v. Rutgers, anyone? How about a heaping helping of Maryland v. Illinois?) 3/4 of the SEC is going to be pissed off every year because those programs think they're above losing even one game, much less 3, 4, or 5 games. Losing 4 or more games more than once every decade or so is enough to get you fired at a lot of SEC programs. Where I'm going with this is, assuming the conference paradigm survives, and we have no reason to believe it won't, that those conferences are not going to expand, because they're already too big. The ACC's media rights buyout amount will be reasonable by 2030, and there will be nothing holding Big 12 programs to account, since their deal will be expiring and they will all be required to sign onto a new one. And, since nobody else is getting into the P2 country club, I honestly think at this point that the biggest brands from the ACC are going to consolidate with the biggest brands from the Big 12 to form the third power football conference, and cut out all the schools that don't bring the eyeballs. The payouts still probably won't be 1:1 with P2 money, but programs can get more than what they're getting now if they just completely cut out all the football programs that are basically being subsidized, like Kansas, Wake Forest, Houston, Boston College, Cincinnati, and SMU. I think we're ultimately going to end up with something entirely football-centric that looks like this: Utah FSU TCU Clemson Texas Tech Miami Oklahoma State UNC Arizona State VT Iowa State NCSU Colorado Louisville WVU GT It will likely have a catchy name that avoids referencing a specific part of the country, and pushes the football-focused nature of the conference, like "Gridiron Elite" or something like that. And, instead of "It just means more," and "Then, now, and always," it will be branded with a mantra like, "WHERE FOOTBALL LIVES," or, "BUILT FOR TITLES." I know it sounds corny, but it only sounds corny because we're used to the old ways. If they go this route, I have zero doubt that the conference will be called something you'd call a kid's travel ball team and the branding will be EXTREMELY IN YOUR FACE.

Got a cool 80s hit as the conference anthem.

Yormark has repeatedly said that he will negotiate the basketball deal separately. I believe him. We all know football media money is the driving force, but what we do not know, is what % of that media money is basketball. Is it 10%, 25%, 33%??? Wherever that number lies, it establishes a definitive line. Currently, we only have the Big East numbers to go by, but they are chalk full of small private mostly regional schools top heave with a few brands. As those negotiations progress, FOX, ESPN, CBS, TNT, .....all others, will be telling Yormark what he needs to get a better "basketball" contract. The B12 is set as middle class football conference. I don't think the football brands of the ACC will end up in the B12 - rather, I see that maybe some of the middle tier schools bolting for the B12 because they could get better revenue and more stability in the B12. Schools like Louisville, Duke, maybe Pitt and Cuse, then maybe the top 3 or four brands of the Big East. It would put the B12 at 24 schools, and by far the best basketball conference in the country. It all depends on how the ACC revenue is distributed. Who is happy, who is lucky to be there, and the rest in the middle. The rest in the middle by definition are B12 type schools.

because the role sports gambling now plays in the industry? I am curious if anyone in the media has ever asked Yormark what role sports gambling has played in the negotiation process and/or whether it has even changed how the Big XII approached the negotiation table. I say that because you could decide to place a parlay bet involving the Baylor-Iowa State on whatever gambling app is associated with Fox. If you decide to not watch that game because you would rather watch the Kansas vs. North South East West Montana State Tech University College game on TV, then which does Fox consider to be more "valuable" to its business model; the ratings from the Baylor vs. Iowa State game or the bet you placed on that game? If it is the bet, then the network's business model has likely changed even though they may still be feasting on the old way too (something about having their cake and eating it too).

money being involved, but I'm not sure how you quantify that into media contracts. There just isn't any data on that currently, at least for us consumers. I do not gamble on sporting events, so is there currently a FOX or ESPN app?

And they're all trying to 1-up each other with promos, boosts, etc. It's why every every professional league has a sports betting sponsor and every commercial break there are multiple commercials for sports betting apps. It's a can't lose business, more or less a license to print money, but you have to make sure the gamblers use your app instead of the next guy's.

these apps will find ways to sustain it.

existing app. ESPN had an app, but I think they discontinued it earlier this year or last year. Fox has something too, but I don't know what off the top of my head. Most of their betting apps don't receive the same public attention as ones you see ads for all the time.

And, of that small piece of the pie, 90+% of that value is concentrated in like 5 basketball programs. The vast majority of people today never watch a single college basketball game until the first round of the NCAAT.

may be a smaller piece than Yormark thinks. That will certainly play out, but he has been adamant that the basketball content is worth much more than they are getting. If the money part pencils out, it opens up the possibility that a hybrid conference that large could be feasible, and makes sense economically. Football could be scheduled different, and the basketball/Olympics could form scheduling posds that make geographic sense. It would essentially separate football into it's own identity, and based on your post, we could see a football only break away, which allows football only membership, not differently than basketball/Olympic only membership. The P2, especially the BIG would not do that, but the ACC and B12 could see some sort of consolidation as you mentioned in your post. Separate the football by separating the basketball. Forming a "new" conference would be a lot more difficult IMO.

They did it in response to an existential crisis, not so different from what these football programs are going through now. Now, just like then, outside forces are conspiring to permanently relegate these programs to the dust heap for no reason other than they aren't a member of the country club. There are differences in the situations (the schools that formed the Big East were focused on basketball instead of football competition, and were all independents at the time,) but not many. The conference was not formed because all those schools wanted to associate, but because they felt they had to do it or face permanent irrelevancy under the status quo. Everyone at the time considered the Big East to be an insane idea that would never work too. "Nobody will give a crap about this conference they just made up out of whole cloth!" "Where are they going to get a media deal; nobody will broadcast that crap!" "It won't last five years!" It went on to become the most successful and lucrative basketball conference in the country at its zenith, with media rights deals at the time that rivaled or bested the SEC, Big 10, Pac 12, Big 8, and ACC. And, just like what I expect we will eventually see happen with the Big 10 and SEC, because it happens to every capitalist project that expects unfettered growth year over year eventually, the original Big East conference died because it got away from its original mission and started trying to conflate its strategy for basketball success with football success, which are two very different beasts. That notwithstanding, I think the time is ripe for a major outside the box move. There are proud, successful football programs that are valuable brands with big fanbases that are currently being relegated not because they are bad, but because they aren't in the country club, and the programs that are want to shut them out permanently. That's an untenable position to be in.

been a beast had they (1) not rejected Joe Pa (2) not let the small Catholic private schools drive the bus and (3) made a choice besides the spineless Mike Tranghese. The BE, unlike the ACC, had a mix to be a dual sport power. Sadly, Tranghese got taken to the cleaners by the small privates and then Swofford.

the athletic departments, but how that shakes out over time is something I can't really wrap my head around. I just don't see conferences dying just yet, but it is entirely possible that a new entity is formed. The problem being the different media contracts, as they are contracts to protect both the media company, and the conferences. Just can't rip them up on a whim.

calling the shots. Some new variable is going to have to be introduced to the calculus, or those institutions will never agree to separate football from the rest of the stew, because why would they?

is ripe for an out of the box move. I agree that the BIG and SEC would not do that, but since the B12 doesn't have the football "brands" that they ACC has, and they have a new contract negotiation coming up, maybe they can increase revenue enough to compete by doing just that - football only, and the rest with geographic pods. Separate contracts, and separate scheduling. That way, you don't have ASU volleyball playing in West Virginia or Florida. Could they garner that kind of money with separate contracts? Hell, I don't know, but really, what do they have to lose? The ACC is approaching this mess like they have something to lose. The B12 already went through that, and their content may be good enough with some additions.

may not be as difficult as you think. Missouri Valley Football Conference (no affiliation with the Missouri Valley Conference even though both HQs are located in St. Louis and the buildings are less than 4-6 blocks away from each other) Pioneer Football League (non-scholarship conference) United Athletic Conference (football-only merger between Atlantic Sun and WAC. Will cease to exist as of July 2026 because it will become apart of the rebranded all-sports WAC conference with the 5 ASUN members being football-only members...confused yet?)

players involved? If it was more money than what is affiliated with the various network contracts, then TV ratings may not really matter in the grand scheme of things because their business model has changed behind the closed doors.

corresponds to the games they're already watching. You might have some sharp with an algorithm and a spreadsheet sitting in an off-strip sports book in Vegas chain smoking, sipping scotch, and sweating out a bet on UCLA v. Rutgers, but sports gambling isn't driving viewership for that game up with any significance. Since ubiquitous legality and the advent of the ability to place a bet from anywhere, any time on your phone, 99% of people that gamble on sports now do so on the games they were going to watch anyway. That's why the vast majority of the handle every week is wagered on whatever big games are on free OTA broadcast networks. ** Edited by Baltimore_Hokie at 4/9/2026, 10:49:58 AM

though. The reason I said what I did is because people could make parlay bets on their smart device involving games they are not watching. Also, I believe the various apps will sometimes offer parlay packages users can pick when placing a bet. If the package involves multiple games going on at the same time, then person either watches only 1 game or spends their time flipping between the games (if possible). I was told by multiple people, who gamble regularly, that that type of behavior isn't really much different than people who participate in fantasy leagues. They will draft players to their team, but they won't take the time watch everyone of their players play in at least majority of the games because there isn't enough time in the day to accomplish that and everything else too. Plus, by spreading the parlay bet around to multiple games, it supposedly reduces the risk by a little.

3-5 years will confirm some thinking, explode other long held beliefs and likely result in a new landscape. I cannot hazard a guess at present what that landscape will look like because there are a lot of wildcards including media, government and the conferences/institutions themselves with decision making capacity to influence the landscape.

I think it's already started, but perhaps not at quantifiable numbers. But I think people are fed up with the current landscape and will as more and more people realize their alma mater can't stay on a level playing field with the big boys, they will increasingly funnel money towards other interests.

Their entire motivation is to get casuals who aren't already attached to a specific college to watch college football when they otherwise wouldn't have. That's why they're turning it into the NFL and only promoting certain conferences and programs. They don't want 40 teams. They don't even want 30 teams. I will tell you this with zero uncertainty in my mind/heart: if the broadcasters had it their way, history/tradition would go right out the window tomorrow, and they'd have one elite national conference for football-only with 14-16 teams in it, those programs would get a golden goose, and that would be it. Everything else would be chopped liver, little more than logos to fill boxes on streaming apps that get zero promotion and zero money. They don't give a F about anything except their bottom line. I think the ultimate end game for ESPN/Fox/etc. is to consolidate the premium brands into one football conference, so they have just enough inventory from that conference to put on their national free OTA broadcasts and their top-line cable (soon to be streaming subscription) channels. I imagine it would include, let's say, Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, LSU, Notre Dame, Texas, Tennessee, Florida State, Nebraska, Penn State, Oklahoma, TAMU, Clemson, Florida, and Southern Cal. With bye weeks, that gives them just enough inventory to fill their prime broadcast slots on their prime networks every week in the fall. Not too big, not too small. Not spending one more dime than they have to. And, every game can be promoted as a BLOCKBUSTER MUST-SEE GAME OF THE CENTURY. Their attitude is that we don't matter, because we will watch anyway, casuals will be more prone to tune in to watch the same 10-15 or so huge brand national programs play each other over and over (just like the NFL), and people that are too young to remember the old ways will grow up with the sport as it is now, and won't find it strange or off-putting at all. They will have no concept of geographic rivalries (the NFL doesn't promote geographic rivalries - it's all built around conferences and divisions - the Jets-Dolphins and Cowboys-Commies rivalries have zero to do with geographic proximity.) They will have zero understanding/context that the "best" programs developed their huge followings by beating up on a bunch of tomato cans and winning 85-90% of their games every year for a century. The thing that we loved is dead, and it's never coming back. And, frankly, it was dead before NIL and unrestricted free agency. It died as soon as they implemented the first CFP in 2014-15.

initial idea that has been sucked dry by the suits and they along with the other media have significantly damaged, if not ruined collegiate sports. Over time, people will not tune in to watch minor leaguers and that limited inventory of schools will be gutted by the NFL controlling Saturday along with Sunday, Monday and Thursday. It will be quite humorous if the SEC and B1G get relegated to playing midweek Tuesday and Wednesday night games. The adults running collegiate sports screwed the golden goose by kicking structural issues down the road and now they will likely finish the gutting by their super conference plans.