After years of lawsuits and near-implosion, ACC spring meetings offer return to stability -- for now, at least

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. -- Two years ago, the ACC's administrators clashed behind closed doors as the conference's future came under fire.

The very existence of the league was at stake. Seven schools were openly exploring options to exit the conference and examining how to legally break an ironclad grant of rights agreement without paying hefty exit fees. League linchpins Clemson and Florida State were serious about leaving their comrades behind to fight for scraps. Multiple lawsuits involving the ACC, FSU and Clemson were filed.

"I certainly wasn't happy about the instability it caused," ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said Wednesday. "I got it. I'm proud of how we stayed steady, stayed committed to resolving an issue."

The ACC might as well have stood for Atlantic Coast Chaos. Not today. The conference's annual spring meetings -- which had developed into a tug-of-war over the last two years -- returned to normalcy this week at the plush Ritz-Carlton along the coast in Amelia Island, Florida.

In a word, the meetings were boring. And that was a good thing.

"It was just a great three days, because we had a chance to (work) with the [faculty athletics representatives], the ADs, the [senior women administrators] and coaching groups and talk about issues going on in their sports instead of what is happening in a court room, etc."

The clouds began to part in January, when the conference extended its grant of rights agreement with ESPN through 2036. That deal paved the way for FSU and Clemson to settle four lawsuits against the ACC in March. It also proposed a shift in revenue distribution that will reward programs with higher television viewership.

But how long will the stability last? Conference and postseason media agreements across the country are set to expire in the 2030s, opening the door for more turmoil.

"I got to believe over the next four or five years, I would hope --- or three or four years," Phillips said. "I just think you've got to settle down. College athletics needs to settle down -- not just the ACC --- and I think we've positioned ourselves for that. And that's a good thing. The chaos and the constant wondering of what's happening here or there, that distracts from the business at hand. I feel good about where we're at and I still take it one day at a time, but I do think there's a period of time where we settle in, get some of these things done."

According to Phillips, the ACC has "never been more aligned" with its broadcast partner. The conference has shrunk its men's basketball schedule from 20 to 18 games with ESPN's blessing, even though the network loses inventory. Seven of the league's opening-week football games will air on ABC or ESPN, with nonconference showdowns against Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Colorado leading into the debut of Bill Belichick's North Carolina squad against TCU on Labor Day.

"That Thursday to Monday schedule is as good of a five-day window as I think any conference has had, maybe ever," Phillips said.

The usual leaders in college athletics visited with ACC officials during the three-day event -- from NCAA president Charlie Baker to CFP executive director Richard Clark. Meanwhile, discussions continued around the pending House settlement and how schools plan to implement new revenue-sharing plans with players that will be capped at $20.5 million. Prominent accounting firm Deloitte shared updates on its system to track third-party NIL deals over $600, which will require approval from a new enforcement arm controlled by the four power conferences. LBI is developing software to track revenue-sharing practices between schools and players.

"It's weird to sit in there and hear that kind of stuff," NC State coach Dave Doeren said. "We used to come down here and talk about football, you know what I mean? And now you're like, 'Wow, this is high-level accounting.' It was pretty over my head, to be honest."

The focus on positioning the conference to win national championships was front and center for the ACC's coaches and administrators. The conference hasn't won a national title in a major sport since 2019, when Virginia was crowned champion at the Final Four. Basketball continued its three-year downward trend with a record-low four NCAA Tournament bids in March (22.2%).

"Our league has to win more non-conference games," said North Carolina athletics director Bubba Cunningham, who chaired the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee this year. "The NET is significantly driven by those non-conference games. The more you win as a league, not any one school, all of them, the better off."

"I'm restless with holding that ultimate prize because we've done it so often prior, and that continues to be a point of priority for myself and for the league," Phillips said. "There's not many meetings that go by that we don't talk about that because of the history that we've had and just over the last period time, we haven't reached that mountain top as often, obviously, as we have in the past."

The ACC believes it has positioned itself as the third-richest conference behind the Big Ten and SEC, though the gap is expected to widen in coming years. The ACC drew $706.6 million in gross revenue during the 2022-23 fiscal year, well behind the Big Ten ($880 million) and SEC ($852.6 million). The conference's numbers for 2023-24 are expected to be released later this month.

Visibility plus championships equals dollars. After all, revenue was a key motivator behind Clemson and Florida State exploring a new home over the last two years. It will likely drive the next evolution of college sports in the 2030s.

"More money doesn't equate and guarantee success," Phillips said. "Does it help? No question. We're fooling ourselves if we don't think it provides assistance in all the areas that you see revenues going toward expenses. In our league, we've always tried to do more with less. That's just the position we've been in, but the controls and having some restraint, we haven't always probably done a great job in that area. Sometimes it's a race to the bottom when you look at any of the areas that we have extreme spending on. We have to continue to hold ourselves accountable to be wise how we use those resources. I feel like we do that really well and our ADs and presidents do a great job with our particular schools, but that will continue to be talked about forever."