The Athletic scoop - UNC’s secret realignment planning

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www.nytimes.com

Documents reveal UNC’s conference realignment approach: A code name, ACC ‘in financial decline’

UNC’s behind-closed-doors exploration of conference realignment and its future in the ACC was known by only a code name.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Documents reveal UNC’s conference realignment approach: A code name, ACC ‘in financial decline’​


“… North Carolina’s explorations originated when it hired the out-of-state law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as counsel “regarding commercial issues involving athletics,” according to a letter to the school’s general counsel. The agreement itself is vague, but the document was first produced in response to a public records request from the Tampa Bay Times last year for contracts with outside counsel on issues related to UNC’s conference membership, including realignment and TV rights.

…
The two senior UNC officials, granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, confirmed what the documents suggested but did not spell out directly: that the Carolina Blue matter is North Carolina’s behind-the-scenes look at realignment.

A source said that look could best be described as the university doing its due diligence amid a constantly shifting landscape, rather than an aggressive legal ploy. That said, about half of the matter’s total expenses — $310,000 — came from work during the first four months of 2024. That timeframe covers a pivotal period in realignment maneuvering and posturing: the immediate aftermath of Florida State and the ACC suing each other (just before Christmas in 2023); dueling lawsuits filed by the ACC and Clemson (March 2024); and North Carolina’s state university system seizing more conference realignment power from individual schools (February 2024).

It’s no coincidence when two of UNC’s ACC peers sued the conference, in response to the league’s TV deal falling far behind those of the SEC and Big Ten, that the Tar Heels followed suit in exploring their legal bounds. …”
 
“…In January, according to documents first published by The Assembly, UNC System president Peter Hans sent Preyer (and chancellor Lee Roberts) a memo temporarily suspending some of the Board of Trustees’ athletics authority because “instances continue to occur where members of the board appear to act independently of their campus’s administration in matters squarely within the responsibility of the chancellor.”

The documents collectively shed more light on North Carolina, a national wild card in the unstable landscape of conference realignment.

Academically, UNC is a top-tier research university and is regarded as one of the nation’s finest public institutions. Its athletic department is one of the most well-rounded in the country; the Tar Heels’ men’s basketball team has six national titles, and its football team just hired Belichick, the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach. It’s the premier school in one of the nation’s 10 biggest states in current population and population growth. And its geography could mesh with either Power 2 conference, the Big Ten or SEC.

… The ACC’s future looks brighter after ESPN recently picked up its option to extend its TV deal through 2036. Clemson and Florida State have not found an escape hatch without paying an exit fee north of $150 million and risking hundreds of millions of dollars in future TV revenue. The two schools and the ACC seem more likely to resolve their disagreements through revamped revenue models (tied to TV viewership and branding) than in any courtroom.

… “Let FSU and Clemson pay the attorneys and see what happens,” Duckett wrote. “We all learn via their expense.”

Those expenses already have reached seven figures. From March through July 2024 alone, Clemson’s legal fees topped $1 million, according to invoices received through a public records request.”
 
There's nothing really surprising there, but it's good to know we're doing our due diligence regarding conference moves and that we're confident that when we're able to move, we have a spot where we want it.
 
farce© said:
This story seems like a big nothing burger. It would be malpractice NOT to be doing due diligence during this period.
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They should have been proactive and looked into leaving the ACC after they added BC, Syracuse, Pitt and Louisville.
 
I think most of us assumed that something like this was going on behind the scenes, but it is interesting to see some of the details actually get confirmed.
 
4thgenheel said:
i totally understand the ACC sentimentality but the conference is a poverty stricken dumpster fire and is only going to drag UNC down further with it.

we need to decamp for one of the P2, yesterday.
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I don't have an opinion on what we should do. I'm just saying that the lust for TV money has destroyed college sports.

How am I supposed to give a fuck when everything is dark? Who the fuck is in our conference? Who the fuck is on our team? Who is on anyone's team? We don't even bother learning the players' names any more. Like "the big guy" for Duke.

Literally the only reason to root for the Heels is the jersey, and nothing else. History is gone. Competition is gone. Player maturation is gone. Everything that used to be good about college sports is gone or going. Now it's mostly just a minor league.
 
superrific said:
I don't have an opinion on what we should do. I'm just saying that the lust for TV money has destroyed college sports.

How am I supposed to give a fuck when everything is dark? Who the fuck is in our conference? Who the fuck is on our team? Who is on anyone's team? We don't even bother learning the players' names any more. Like "the big guy" for Duke.

Literally the only reason to root for the Heels is the jersey, and nothing else. History is gone. Competition is gone. Player maturation is gone. Everything that used to be good about college sports is gone or going. Now it's mostly just a minor league.
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can't argue with much of that. college athletics are going through a rough transitional period.

i do think that once we get re-situated in either the SEC or B1G, both serious conferences with plenty of national name brand schools that we share history with, things will start looking up.

no, it won't be classic ACC tilts but i can't say that i'm gonna be furious about regular matchups with some combination of UCLA, ohio state, michigan, indiana, michigan state, kentucky, bama, texas, tennessee, etc. etc. etc.
 
4thgenheel said:
i totally understand the ACC sentimentality but the conference is a poverty stricken dumpster fire and is only going to drag UNC down further with it.

we need to decamp for one of the P2, yesterday.
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Yeah I hate conference realignment but I’ve kinda already mourned the death of the ACC awhile ago. It’s been a zombie conference with most of the programs trending in the wrong direction for the last decade or so, obviously accelerated with NIL, etc.

It sucks but it is what it is. The only options are to move to Big 10 or SEC where we’ll be viewed as outsiders, or stay behind and lose relevance completely.
 
4thgenheel said:
i totally understand the ACC sentimentality but the conference is a poverty stricken dumpster fire and is only going to drag UNC down further with it.

we need to decamp for one of the P2, yesterday.
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We have no legal route to "decamp" until 2036, unless and until (1) FSU and/or Clemson succeed in their lawsuits (which I think is unlikely), or (2) we are prepared to make a massive (likely crippling) financial outlay to the other ACC schools.
 
4thgenheel said:
i do think that once we get re-situated in either the SEC or B1G, both serious conferences with plenty of national name brand schools that we share history with, things will start looking up.
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I don't think a "conference" with twenty teams or twenty four or however many they will expend to next is much of a conference. Especially when they include schools on both coasts.

That's just an amalgam.

Even the pro leagues have meaningful regional divisions.
 
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