ACC's Phillips touts league's health amid questions of possible departures, realignment in future
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner Jim Phillips isn't publicly fretting about four member schools expressing support for tweaking realignment provisions in the Protect College Sports Act to make it easier for schools to change leagues.
Speaking Tuesday at preseason ACC basketball media days, Phillips touted the health and financial gains for the league while also saying schools “need direct access to state their case” when it comes to the proposed law to reform college athletics. The U.S. Senate has approved a version of the measure and sent it to the House.
The presidents and chancellors of Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina sent a letter last week to House leaders seeking to increase the bill's membership cap for conferences from 20 to 22 schools. They also requested removing a requirement for a school to be independent for three years before joining another league.
Tomahawk Nation, a site covering Florida State athletics, was first to obtain a copy of the letter. A North Carolina spokesman confirmed its authenticity when contacted by The Associated Press.
Phillips said he would continue to stay in touch with all ACC schools and noted most back the measure.
“We have 14 schools that feel really good about it that want to sign it, and we have four schools that have an issue with a portion of it," he said. "So that’s what I’m going to continue to push towards the decision makers and those that have written the bill to date.”
FSU and Clemson filed lawsuits against the ACC in 2023 and 2024, respectively, to challenge the league's ability to levy hundreds of millions in exit fees to leave the conference. The league countersued. The parties ultimately settled the case in early 2025 with a deal that revised long-term exit costs while also revamping the league's revenue-distribution model as a way for schools generating the highest TV ratings to earn more money.
That's been part of a series of changes by the league to bolster the financial picture while facing a growing gap behind the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences, though still finishing ahead of the Big 12 among the Power Four. The ACC reported about $826.5 million in total revenue in tax filings covering the 2024-25 sports season, with schools earning a full distribution share getting an average of $47.1 million.
That continued an upward trajectory from $617 million for 2021-22 in Phillips’ first full season, good for a full-share average of $39.4 million. By comparison, the Big Ten and SEC both crossed the $1 billion mark in total revenue in their 2024-25 filings, with the Big Ten paying an average of nearly $79.9 million to full-share members while the SEC came in at nearly $72.4 million.
The ACC's legal settlement with Clemson and FSU helped make the 2030-31 a significant marker. The ACC's exit fee will decline each year before leveling off around $75 million per school that season, while media deals for other leagues are expiring around that time to create at least the potential for another wave of broad realignment.
Provisions in any new law could make that harder, starting with membership caps that could limit the available landing spots. In addition, requiring a school to operate as an independent for a defined period after leaving a league would mean missing formerly guaranteed media payouts before being able to cash in elsewhere.
“I’ve been very consistent about I have always tried to make sure that this was a conference that people wanted to be in, and I’m really proud of what we’ve done,” Phillips said. “We’re as healthy as we’ve ever been."
Phillips declined to discuss “hypotheticals” when asked whether he was concerned about whether this was a sign of multiple schools intending to leave.
“The conference is in a good place,” he said. "Healthy, functioning, achieving at a high level. We’ll see where all this takes us. So you have to be ready. You have to be ready for anything. But I feel good about where we’re at, and we’ll see what this bill ends up doing.”
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