Report: 'Continued Momentum' for ACC to Add Cal, Stanford, SMU

But a meeting of the ACC presidents scheduled for Monday night to vote on the matter has been postponed because an armed shooter was on the North Carolina campus Monday

There is increased momentum for ACC expansion in the form of the addition of Cal, Stanford and SMU, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel, who spoke to sources Monday morning.

The schools' presidents were scheduled to meet Monday night to vote on the issue, but the meeting has been postponed because an armed shooter came onto the North Carolina campus on Monday and fired shots.

----Tuesday update--------------

Quick (non) update here on ACC - no current rescheduled presidents call out of respect for what happened at UNC. Jim Phillips is going to Dallas for CFP meetings tomorrow. It is my understanding nobody has flipped yet on adding Cal, Stanford and SMU but talks continue.

— Andrea Adelson (@aadelsonESPN) August 29, 2023

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The ACC is still expected to make a final decision either way in the next few days  on whether to add Cal, Stanford and SMU.

Here is a key excerpt from Thamel's Monday morning report:

After a weekend of conversations, a source told ESPN that the details of the potential additions are "only in pencil," but it's trending in the direction of happening. One of four ACC schools that had previously objected to the additions -- Clemson, Florida State, NC State and North Carolina -- needed to change its vote, and that is expected to happen this week.

Sources cautioned to ESPN that the situation is fluid and nothing is finalized. But the general tenor heading out of the conversations over the weekend is that the league is close to formalizing the additions.

While there's momentum toward additions, a decision either way is coming in the early part of this week. This is the fourth week that ACC officials have discussed the potential additions, and there's a now-or-never tone hanging over the next few days.

Here are the reports of an armed shooter on the University of North Carolina campus on Monday, and that threat apparently has caused the vote on ACC expansion to be postponed.

Here is an excerpt from the Associated Press report:

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — An apparent shooting at the University of North Carolina flagship campus on Monday led to a school-wide alert warning of an “armed, dangerous person on or near campus” and urging people to go inside and avoid windows.

WRAL TV reported that a person of interest in the shooting is in custody.

UNC president speaks about the tragedy on campus. https://t.co/n6YsNxzPVj

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 29, 2023

Ross Dellenger of Yahoo reports some of the financial numbers involved in the possible expansion.

An important note: While Cal & Stanford may start at 30% share & SMU at 0, they will:
- see shares eventually escalate over remaining 13 yrs of the GoR
- still receive ACC shares from NCAAT, CFP & incentive pool of revenue from expansion ($5-10M a year)https://t.co/JBSAB4DG8g

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 27, 2023

.And Brett McMurphy of Action Network adds this significant detail.

One reason ACC considering Stanford, Cal & SMU is ESPN's media rights deal w/ACC allows ESPN to renegotiate (i.e. reduce revenue) if league drops below 15 members, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. With potential future departures of FSU, Clemson & possibly others, ACC considering…

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 28, 2023

Cover photo by Scott Taetsch, USA TODAY Sports

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