Is the ACC unfair in sharing media revenue with its members? Paul Finebaum criticizes the conference for prioritizing top-tier schools

The ACC has made its new revenue-sharing model public, characterized by its uneven revenue allocation to members. In other words, schools that advance to post-season tournaments like the College Football Playoff get a larger slice of the pie than the rest.

The model, which already has the approval of the ACC Board of Directors, marks the conference’s departure from its current equal revenue-sharing format. It is presented as a way to improve the level of competition in the 14-team conference. In turn, teams from the conference compete at the same level as teams from high-status conferences.

As expected, the model has come under a lot of scrutiny and attracted different sorts of reactions. SEC analyst Paul Finebaum was particularly critical of the model and said it was a “bad thing to do.”

Finebaum appeared on the Marchand and Ourand podcast and pointed out that it will further widen the financial gap between the ACC and other Power 5 conferences, especially the SEC and Big Ten.

“It’s certainly on the table, and I think it’s a bad thing to do," Finebaum said.

“If you wonder if dividing the pie up unevenly is a good idea, just ask Missouri and Nebraska and Texas A&M about how they dealt with Texas getting its own network about 15 years ago,” he added.

Finebaum referred to the exit of Texas A&M, Missouri, and Nebraska from the Big 12 in 2011 over perceived unfairness in revenue sharing. The teams made their way to the SEC, where the revenue-sharing is believed to be more fair.

Finebaum expects the uneven revenue-sharing model to create a similar situation in the ACC. According to him, only the biggest brands in the conference, such as Clemson, Florida State, and Miami, will reap the maximum benefits of the model. Smaller schools are at risk of being left behind.

Finebaum believes the disparity that the model will create will make it more difficult for the smaller schools to compete.

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When does the ACC revenue-sharing model come into effect?

Atlantic Coast Conference Championship - Clemson v North Carolina

Full details on how the conference plans to implement the model are not yet available. But it hopes the model will help close the financial gap between the conference, the Big Ten, and the SEC.

How this is supposed to play out remains unclear. Hopefully, it will be by the time the conference implements the model in the 2024-2025 season.

Despite criticisms from people like Finebaum, the conference is determined to proceed with the model, and the commissioner, Jim Philips, is confident. Philips denied rumors of infighting within the conference over the model, maintaining that it is united over its adoption.