CFB insider reveals ACC's masterplan to sustain P5 status and avoid ESPN media deal renegotiation as total member count crosses 15

On Friday morning, the ACC conducted its second voting session for expansion and voted to admit Stanford, Cal and SMU into their conference. This decision marks the conclusion of the extensive realignment activities that have transpired in college football in the last couple of weeks.

The leadership of the ACC was steadfast in ensuring that the expansion became a reality despite opposition from some members. One of the reasons for that is to ensure that it maintains its membership strength, which is vital to keep the television contract with ESPN.

In the league's television agreement with ESPN, there's a provision stipulating that should the league's membership fall below 15 teams, the television network have the option to renegotiate of the contract. Notably, the media deal runs all the way down till 2036.

The addition of three new universities brings the league membership to 18 and help mitigate the possibility of losing its television deal if Florida State, Clemson and North Carolina eventually leave the conference.

It's worth noting that the three schools voted against expansion in both voting sessions.

Insider Brett McMurphy tweeted:

"ACC will add Stanford, Cal & SMU in 2024, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. . The league’s presidents got the required 12 of 15 votes to expand the ACC’s football membership to 17 schools. SMU will not receive any media rights revenue for 1st 7 years, while Stanford & Cal will receive reduced shares, sources said.

"One reason ACC added Stanford, Cal & SMU is ESPN’s media rights deal w/ACC allows ESPN to renegotiate if league drops below 15 members, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. W/potential future departures of FSU, Clemson & UNC - all who voted against expansion - ACC wanted to get P5 schools now opposed to G5 schools later to maintain required membership number."

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Power Five now, rather than Group of Five later

With Florida State, Clemson and North Carolina actively working on leaving the conference, it was crucial for the ACC to expand before that happens. Losing its current media deal could have turned out as a massive disaster for the conference, and that had to be mitigated.

Expanding now ensures that the ACC can bring in Power Five teams rather than settling for Group of Five schools when the Seminoles, Tigers and Taar Heels make their way out. Notably, Stanford and Cal are joining as Power Five teams, while SMU is the only G5 expansion candidate.

The addition of P5 teams ensures higher revenue and better exposure for the league in the college sports realm. The implosion of the Pac-12 ensures that the ACC can add Power Five teams to their league without much hassles, like other Power Five conferences.

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Will the ACC bring ESPN back to the table?

The ACC has a long-term television contract with ESPN which will not expire until 2036. With a media deal that runs on for the next 13 years, it's evidently not sustainable for teams in the league to keep earning the same amount in media revenue for that long period.

That often brings about the question of whether the conference would bring ESPN back to the negotiation table. Renegotiating a new deal with higher figures at some point is the only way the league can keep pace with its Power Five counterparts. However, it's unknown how that can be achieved between the two parties at the moment.