Florida State AD Michael Alford comments on gap separating ACC from Big Ten, SEC

The last round of media rights negotiations — and ensuing conference realignment — saw two conferences separate themselves from the rest. The SEC is moving to 16 teams in 2024 as it prepares to start its new media deal with ESPN, while the Big Ten is preparing for USC and UCLA to join the league in time to be part of the lucrative media rights agreement starting in 2024.

Then, there’s the ACC. The conference, amid the amount of movement across college sports, is stuck in the middle.

A grant of rights that was agreed to in 2013, updated in 2016 and expires in 2036 is a big reason for that. Seven schools — dubbed “The Magnificent Seven” — reportedly banded together to take a look at what it would take to get out of that agreement and potentially leave the league, a reality of the sizable gap between the SEC and Big Ten and the rest of college football.

The deal is largely seen as unbreakable, though. That’s led to discussion about a new-look revenue-sharing model. But even with that, Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said it’ll be challenging to close that gap. That said, being competitive would be attainable.

“A step in the right direction,” Alford told reporters. “I don’t think you’ll ever fix the entire — we’re never going to cover the entire gap. But it will allow you to be competitive.”

Creating a new model, though, could require quite the legal challenge. But closing the gap between the ACC and the SEC and Big Ten is part of the conversation, according to Alford.

Still, he admitted there’s a lot to figure out.

“That’s some of the things we’re looking at,” Alford said of getting on the level of the Big Ten and SEC. “I don’t want to comment on that yet because we’ve still got to iron it out and flesh out all the numbers and what else can we add. It’s a work in progress. But I can tell you, I’m thrilled with the work and the direction that it’s going.”

In 2019, the SEC agreed to a deal with ESPN and ABC that could net the league more than $300 million per season, the Sports Business Journal reported. Then, late last year, the Big Ten announced a deal that would bring in more than $7 billion starting July 1, 2023, and running through the 2029-30 season. The Big 12 also got in on the fun, agreeing to a $2.28 billion media rights deal with FOX and ESPN.

As for the ACC, the league agreed to a deal with ESPN in 2013 and amended it in 2016 to start the ACC Network. By amending it, though, it meant the agreement now runs through 2036. Despite the reports about teams looking to leave, Alford said the league made progress this week.