While Alford's concerns have been discussed at length behind closed doors over the past two years, his decision to go public with his frustrations served as a clear message to some of his less-motivated colleagues that the timeline for change must be accelerated.Īt least for now, Florida State and every ACC school are tied together through the league's grant of rights, which gives the league control over each member's media revenue and runs through 2036. "But at the end of the day, in order to compete to the standard we want to compete in, there needs to be a change, and the status quo is not good enough." "I know how hard the commissioner and the office are working to provide solutions to the members of the conference to the revenue gap that we are projecting in the upcoming years to the media contracts," Alford told ESPN. Put the two issues together - the size of the total revenue pie, and how the league chooses to slice it up - and Alford believes it will soon be nearly impossible for the Seminoles to compete for a national championship in football. But Alford told the board the Seminoles are responsible for a far greater percentage of that revenue - as much as 15%, according to a consulting firm he hired on just his second day on the job - while earning just 7% of it in league payouts. The SEC's upcoming TV contract, however, is expected to result in more than $70 million per team in payouts, while the Big Ten's new deal is expected to distribute at least $80 million per team annually.įlorida State currently splits league profits evenly with 13 other full-time members of the ACC (and shares a portion with partial member Notre Dame). In the next few years, new TV deals for the SEC and Big Ten will kick in that will provide member institutions in those leagues with $30 to $40 million more annually than Florida State will receive from the ACC. The ACC distributed a record $36.1 million per full-time member for the 2020-21 season, a number that should grow slightly now that the league has full distribution of the ACC Network. "At the end of the day, for Florida State to compete nationally," Alford told the board, "something has to change moving forward." There was an elephant in the room, Alford believed, and it was time someone addressed it directly, publicly, bluntly. He'd already talked with several other athletic directors around the ACC who shared his concerns. Inside the big-money battle that could decide the ACC's futureĬollege Football, Florida State Seminoles, Clemson Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, Boston College Eagles, Pittsburgh Panthers, NC State Wolfpack, Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, North Carolina Tar Heels, Virginia Cavaliers, Virginia Tech Hokies, Louisville Cardinals, Syracuse Orange, Duke Blue Devilsįlorida State athletic director Michael Alford knew there'd be controversy when he addressed the school's board of trustees last week. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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