We told you back in January it was probably going to happen. The ACC was mocked and ridiculed for its plan to create brand initiatives, and now one of the P2 looks like it’s headed that way.
This was our exact statement on the topic of unequal revenue share earlier this year.
Conferences weren’t ready for uneven revenue models 15 years ago, as the Big 12 epically failed with their model back then. When the Big 10 is now entertaining private equity, it’s only a matter of time before every big brand is asking for a bigger piece of their conference pies. The ACC just might just be the first this go around.
Even more than a week ago, I speculated unequal revenue sharing was just around the corner.
Eventually the brands will recognize they are driving viewership and ask for more money. The big12 was about 15 years too soon on unequal revenue distribution. I think that is drawing closer.
— Jeff or Jeffrey Fann (@TalkinACCSports) June 12, 2025
Now, from the Seattle Times the Washington AD spoke on the subject. It’s behind a paywall, if you want the whole article, but here is the quote I consider the most revealing.
Chun, however, still believes UW will earn a full share when the conference renegotiates its next media contract, expected to begin in 2030. However, Chun clarified that the Big Ten’s next contract likely won’t include equal shares for every program, with the conference potentially taking a brand-based model approach.
Big 10 observer Greg Fluhaur has more on the subject.
CFB PATC Just Released Episode #443
EP 443: Big Ten Likely Moving Towards Unequal Revenue Sharing Of Next Me… https://t.co/FPJxBqH4VE via @YouTube pic.twitter.com/ZxCAVbkAlm
— Greg Flugaur (@flugempire) June 20, 2025
You can just about guarantee if the Big 10 goes through with this, the SEC will as well. If the Big 10 and SEC have roughly equal total media deals, and suddenly Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan are making millions more than Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, then guess who’s telling SEC commissioner Greg Sankey whose driving revenue in the SEC. While the Big 12 brands are probably a little more evenly laid out, there’s still a first and last in that league when it comes to brand, and their top brands are going to ask the same.
Now, a new dynamic in all those realignment scenarios exists as well. The ACC has its own big brands, but you’d be hard pressed to put them in the same category as Ohio State and Alabama, and where they end up in that distribution model could throw a wrinkle in for ACC candidates, and even in the mid-tier brands of the P2. Would Minnesota and Rutgers vote an ACC school into their league if said ACC school gets a bigger piece of the pie and they get a smaller one?
Maybe it matters, maybe not – but it’s a new consideration that wasn’t brought up before in previous media rights and realignment discussions.
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