Clemson football: ACC needs to move to unequal shares in television revenue

There is no program in the ACC that has produced more revenue for the conference since the inception of the ACC Network television deal than Clemson football, but yet the Tigers have only made slightly over the average payout amount each year.

The ACC reported $497 million in revenue for the fiscal year 2020 and that was an average of right around $33 million per school with the lowest being $30.9 million and the highest being $37 million to Clemson.

While many want to point to basketball and pretend that brands like Virginia, Duke, Syracuse and North Carolina move the needle in the sport, the truth is that everything falls decidedly second behind football. And no one is producing money like Clemson football.

The ACC needs to move to unequal shares in television revenue for two reasons and they’ll both benefit Clemson football

First of all, what we’re talking about is just basic economics. It’s called fairness.

Here’s an example: If Clemson goes 15-0 and wins a National Championship, the Tigers shouldn’t make just slightly over Wake Forest, who went 4-8 and didn’t even make it to the postseason.  There should be incentives– much higher than what they currently are– for teams who have success in the postseason, particularly the CFB Playoff.

Not only should there be better incentives for those who are winning, but there should be better incentives– in the form of unequal shares– for those who are drawing.

The Greenville market– considered a small market in terms of population– was ranked as the No. 5 overall ESPN market in 2020. That’s not because people around that area are watching tennis, baseball or the NFL, it’s because they’re watching Clemson football.

When you look at the top-rated games for the ACC year-in and year-out, Clemson is at the top of the list.

Just a quick example: During Thanksgiving weekend of last year, here’s a look at the top-rated games:

1. Auburn at Alabama 6,656,000 CBS
2. Notre Dame at UNC 6,089,000 ABC
3.  LSU at Texas A&M 4,154,000 ESPN
4. Penn State at Michigan 4,093,000 ABC
5. Iowa State at Texas 3,577,000 ABC
6. Pittsburgh at Clemson 3,084,000 ABC/ESPNU

Look at the names on that list and you’re going to see one that simply isn’t like the others when it comes to brands. Clemson nearly drew as many viewers as Texas against a top-15 ranked Iowa State team. While Pitt does have a fan base, let’s be honest in saying that market as a whole isn’t watching the Panthers on a weekly basis.

And then, we’re brought to our second reason: Unequal shares are the only way to bring in Notre Dame.

If the ACC wants to compete and stay relevant in terms of revenue against the SEC and Big Ten, the conference has to find a way to bring in Notre Dame. Look at those Thanksgiving weekend numbers again. What was the second-most watched game of the weekend? It was Notre Dame at UNC, partly because that was a ranked matchup and mainly because of the drawing power of the Fighting Irish.

Both games that Clemson and Notre Dame played last year registered more than 10 million viewers. The ACC Championship game was the most-watched conference title game of the weekend– even beating out Alabama vs. Florida– and it was the most-watched ACC Championship ever.

When you look at the revenue generators for the ACC, it all starts with Clemson for the time being. But to draw Notre Dame into the conference– who could be an even bigger draw in terms of revenue– it all starts with the ACC making the decision to move away from equal shares and to pay based on brand power and performance.