06-04-2026, 07:37 AM
ACC TV revenue is not going to be enough to address the gap.
The SEC and BigTen teams get quite a bit more in tv revenue than ACC squads, and the best in those conferences seem to have alums willing to donate big money. And then they also have a competitive advantage for money and recruits that Stanford can't touch....large loyal fanbases.
Once upon a time schools were limited to offering a full ride to their school. Logically, an academic experience that was uniquely valuable provided a rather important competitive advantage. Those were the ancient days are long, long gone. Now schools can offer multi-million dollar contracts that have dramatically altered the 4 year choice vs 40 year decision equation. 2008 feels closer to when dinosaurs roomed the planet than the current era.
The SEC and BigTen teams get quite a bit more in tv revenue than ACC squads, and the best in those conferences seem to have alums willing to donate big money. And then they also have a competitive advantage for money and recruits that Stanford can't touch....large loyal fanbases.
Once upon a time schools were limited to offering a full ride to their school. Logically, an academic experience that was uniquely valuable provided a rather important competitive advantage. Those were the ancient days are long, long gone. Now schools can offer multi-million dollar contracts that have dramatically altered the 4 year choice vs 40 year decision equation. 2008 feels closer to when dinosaurs roomed the planet than the current era.