ACC Commish delivers pointed remarks about state of the ACC

Jim Phillips doesn't want college athletics to usher into an era of only two or three superconferences. (Photo: Jim Dedmon / USATODAY)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Jul 20 11:27:09 GMT-04:00 2022

CHARLOTTE, NC – ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips gave a state of the conference address Wednesday morning in Charlotte, and he said that the conference is best in the country while delivering pointed remarks to any schools that might be thinking about leaving.

Phillips made his remarks at the 2022 ACC Football Kickoff, held at The Westin in Charlotte, amid swirling rumors of conference expansion and realignment. Phillips’ comments were delivered with a nod towards those who doubt the health of the conference.

“It remains my belief there is no better conference in the country. When you combine our incredible student-athletes, world-class institutions, broad-based sports offerings, and our commitment to maximizing the educational and athletic opportunities for students,” Phillips said. “The leadership at our 15 schools remains second to none, and I would like to thank the ACC Board of Directors led by Duke president Vince Price, the athletic directors, faculty athletic reps and senior women's administrators who continue to build upon the ACC's long history of balancing academics, athletics, and integrity at the highest levels.”

Phillips compared college athletics to communities and said that there should be no gated communities (or dominant conferences with others left out) and that things should be kept modest as schools chase greater riches via media rights deals.

“Education matters. Winning matters. Resources matter,” he said. “The ecosystem is not dissimilar to our respective neighborhoods that we live in. Keeping them healthy and diverse is a priority. There will always be a variety of communities: gated, upper class, middle class, or more modest. In times of great change, and that's a fair description of the last 25, 15, 10 years and really the last 12 months. Any new structure in the NCAA must serve many, not a select few. This includes national governance, media rights, membership, NCAA, CFP access. The list goes on and on.

“We are not the professional ranks. This is not the NFL or NBA Light. We all remain competitive with one another, but this is not and should not be a winner-take-all or a zero-sum structure. College athletics has never been elitist or singularly commercial. It's provided countless individuals with a path to higher education and, therefore, life-changing possibilities, access, opportunity at a modern rules-based structure, should all remain a priority as we continue to evolve.”

Phillips continued with his gated community theme.

“I will continue to do what's in the best interest of the ACC, but will also strongly advocate for college athletics to be a healthy neighborhood, not a two or three gated communities,” he said. “Resources may be different, but access, education, and competitive opportunity will remain the foundation going forward.

“From 1975 to 1985 the NCAA men's basketball tournament grew both financially and in popularity as it moved from 32 to 64 teams. This resulted in an event that continues to be embraced by college fans, media, student-athletes and coaches. We must acknowledge this is a recipe and lesson college football may want to learn from, but do it in a way that is safe for those who play that sport. Access to championships is essential for all neighborhoods. We should keep this in mind as we try to balance education, competition, and entertainment in today's disruptive environment.”

He was asked about his “gated” remarks and how that works when the ACC is falling behind in revenue, and he once again touted the conference as the best in the country.

“I want to maybe level-set it. The last 20 minutes I think you got a sprinkling about where the ACC is nationally. All metrics, we are one of the leaders in the country in all of those areas I talked about, except the revenue piece of it, and that's been brought to light with the recent move of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten," Phillips said. “A year ago we were talking about the same thing, and so truly over the last 18 months it's been my primary focus. We were able to get distribution done. We have some other things coming forward relative to what we're going to do in partnership with some revenue consultants that I'm really excited about being able to release that maybe by the end of the month.”

Philips said he has been in conversations with ESPN about the TV contract.

“We're in engagement daily -- almost daily with our partners at ESPN. I openly talk about ESPN because we are 50/50 partners on our network, and so they're motivated, we're motivated,” Phillips said. “We've come together to have some discussions about what would be the next iteration for the ACC. It doesn't mean we're going to make a move. It doesn't mean we're not going to make a move, but all options are on the table.

“Revenue is certainly one piece and a really big piece as we move forward, but I will say it again, we need all communities healthy. When you think about where we're at right now, we're probably in the gated community as one of five. Maybe people have a different line of demarcation about who is in there. It really doesn't take away from. We're going to continue to try to find new ways to generate revenue for our conference.”

He was asked if expansion is the only way to save the ACC as it battles the SEC and Big Ten for supremacy.

“I don't know that it's the only solution. I think you have to look creatively. We've been doing that over the last year. We're going to continue to do that,” Phillips said. “All neighborhoods need to be healthy. It's not good for college athletics if we're not, and, again, you heard my reference earlier. We understand where those two leagues are. No one is ignoring that. We're all trying to find ways to close that gap.

“So I know where our 17 -- or our 15 schools are. We are really aligned to try to find some solutions to that revenue gap, but it can't be at the expense of all the other things that we're doing. So there's I think a really good plan for us as we move ahead. Again, considering all of are our options. In these kinds of times you have to do that. This is unique what's happened over the last 12 months.”

The ACC’s Grant of Rights continues to be a hot topic, and Phillips said he thinks that will keep the league intact until the deal expires in 2036.

“So I can just go by what history has told us with the grant of rights, including in current times. People talked about Oklahoma and Texas leaving immediately. I think that's pretty well-stated now that that's not the case. They're going to wait until their grants of rights is over,” he said. “Listening to UCLA and USC at the end of June, June 30th, and subsequent days after they clearly are going to stay in the PAC-12 until their grant of rights is over.

“So you can follow the logic there. I would think that the significance of what that would mean, the television rights that the conference owns as well as a nine-figure financial penalty, I think it holds, but your guess is as good as mine. Everything is on the table. We understand what that means. We understand what that revenue means moving forward, but I will also say, as I look at the next few years, I like where we're going. But, again, the window is through '36, so we're going to have to address it, no question.”