Phillips says ACC is Going to Have to Address its Grant of Rights

'I think it holds, but your guess is as good as mine'

Jim Dedmon / USA TODAY Sports

CHARLOTTE — Jim Phillips says the Atlantic Coast Conference is one of the leaders nationally in so many areas when comparing it to other conferences. However, he understands the league is behind when it comes to the revenue piece of it, which is the biggest piece of them all.

With the SEC and the Big Ten expanding to 16 schools by 2025, which likely will assure those schools more than three times the revenue than the ACC, speculation has been rampant that some ACC schools might want to find a way out.

Many considered the league’s grant of rights, which has ACC schools locked into the conference through 2036, as a reason on why member institutions such as Clemson, Florida State and Miami cannot jump ship. However, Phillips, though he sent a message that the ACC members were aligned, seemed unsure about the Grant of Rights and what it meant for his conference members.

“I would think that the significance of what that would mean, the television rights that the conference owns, as well as a nine-figure financial penalty, I think it holds, but your guess is as good as mine,” the ACC Commissioner said Wednesday as he kicked off the ACC Football Kickoff at the Westin Charlotte.

Phillips was reminded the grant of rights for UCLA, USC, Oklahoma and Texas had just two or three years left when they decided to move to other conferences, and he was asked if he really anticipates the conference and the universities standing pat for that long.

“Everything is on the table,” Phillips said. “We understand what that means. We understand what that revenue means moving forward. But I will also say, as I look at the next few years, I like where we're going. But, again, the window is through '36, so we're going to have to address it, no question. Your point is a good one.”