The Atlantic Coast Conference generated close to $1 billion in revenue for the 2025-26 season, another big jump for the conference, the league’s commissioner said Tuesday.
But not all of the league’s schools will see a big increase – or any increase — in its annual distribution thanks to the league’s new unequal revenue distribution model that factors in television viewership and on-field success.
NC State said it received $45.7 million from the ACC for the 2025-26 academic year, less than the $46.4 million it received in 2024-25. WRAL obtained the 2025-26 figure in a public records request.
North Carolina declined to release its ACC distribution, and the league will announce its revenue and distribution totals in the spring. Miami, which reached the College Football Playoff championship game, is expected to receive the largest distribution in 2025-26.
In 2024-25, the 14 long-term members of the ACC received an average of $47.1 million from the league with Clemson’s $55.1 million at the high end and Wake Forest’s $42.8 million at the low end. Non-football member Notre Dame and newcomers Cal, Stanford and SMU received between $17 million and $22.9 million.
The ACC generated $711.3 million in 2023-24 and $826.4 million in 2024-25, according to federal tax filings from those years. Commissioner Jim Phillips said Tuesday during the league’s annual basketball media event that the league’s revenue and distribution “‘will border $1 billion for the first time.”
The Big Ten Conference reported revenue of $1.45 billion and the Southeastern Conference reported revenue of 1.1 billion in 2024-25. The ACC has been third in revenue generation and its per-school distribution lagged the other leagues by between $25 million and $31 million in 2024-25.
Some of the growth has come from the league’s push for corporate sponsorships. In recent years, more than 70% of revenue has come from television with postseason bowls and NCAA basketball tournament revenue making up most of the rest. The ACC, like the Big Ten and SEC, has its own television network. It shares in the profits with ESPN.
Unlike the membership in those leagues, however, several ACC league members indicated they’d prefer to leave.
The chancellor at North Carolina, along with school leaders at Clemson, Florida State and Miami, signed onto a letter to congressional leaders asking that they alter conference expansion provisions in the Senate-passed Protect College Sports Act, comprehensive legislation that would rewrite many aspects of college sports, including rules around revenue sharing, eligibility and transfers.
The four schools would like to see membership caps on conferences raised to 22 and a provision that requires a period of independence before any conference move eliminated. The current bill caps membership at 20 and requires a three-year independent period. The Big Ten has 18 members, and the SEC has 16 members. The ACC has 18 members, including Notre Dame which is a football independent.
“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 Tuesday. “We’re as healthy as we’ve ever been. I said it in July because I mean that. If you look at the metrics of revenue generation and what we’re going to give out to the membership next year, it will border $1 billion for the first time.”
Phillips said the league has a long list of accomplishments including 36 national titles over the last four years and being ranked No. 1 in academics for nearly two decades.
Phillips acknowledged that all of the ACC’s schools are not unanimous about every aspect of the federal legislation, which he supports. North Carolina athletics director Steve Newmark said Saturday that he and the university support the bill overall despite its effort to tweak one portion.
“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,” Phillips said.
It is unclear if the House will take up the bill or if it will be able to pass it this year.
Asked if he foresaw an “exodus” from the league if the federal bill did raise the membership caps, Phillips called it a “hypothetical” question.
“I don’t want to get into hypotheticals,” he said. “I stand by what I’ve said. The conference is in a good place – healthy, functioning, achieving at a high level. We’ll see where all this takes us. 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.”
Source: www.wral.com
