ACC bowl payout, valuable brands, & conference finances

Much of this info is from http://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/ which is really the best ACC blog I have found by a long shot.  I wish the ACC, as a conference, had much more of these types of blogs (like the SEC does).  I don't always agree with the conclusions, but still the best researched ACC site out there and ultimately, I hope the site is right on much of what it blogs.

 The SEC Is Already Bowl Season's Biggest Winner Thanks To $52 Million Payout

"The six automatic qualifying (AQ) conferences are each guaranteed one slot in a BCS bowl. Per the BCS Media Guide, each automatic bid is worth about $23.9 million. The four remaining BCS bids are ordinarily doled out as at-large berths. This year’s four recipients are Alabama and Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl, and Ohio State and Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Each of those four teams’ conferences receives an at-large payout of around $6.3 million. That means the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC are all guaranteed $30 million from BCS bowls alone; the AAC and Pac-12 are the two AQ conferences that will miss out on this year’s extra BCS income."

"Add it all up and the SEC, as usual, finishes on top. The conference has eight non-BCS bowl teams collecting a total $21.3 million this season, bringing the conference’s total bowl game payout to $51.5 million. The ACC comes in second with around $16.4 million from non-BCS bowls, netting a total $46.6 million. The Big Ten will get $15.5 million from the lower bowls, and the AQ conferences are rounded out by the Big 12 ($12.2 million), Pac-12 ($11.4 million) and AAC ($6.7 million)."

ACC Bowl take this year 2nd only to SEC

"Having a BCS at-large bid ($6.3M), filling all bowl ties with 2 extra bowl teams - all that helped the ACC jump over the Big XII and Big Ten into 2nd place in total bowl revenue:

SEC $51.5M / 14 = $3.68M ea
ACC $46.6M / 14 = $3.33M ea
B1G $45.7M / 12 = $3.81M ea
B12 $42.4M / 10 = $4.24M ea
Pac $35.5M / 12 = $2.96M ea
AAC $30.6M / 10 = $3.06M ea "

ESPN Nations

"In addition to having a blog for each major sport, and one for each major conference, ESPN has a few blogs for select individual schools.  Here is a list of the schools deemed worthy of their own blog under the ESPN.com umbrella:

CFBNation (college football blogs)

Alabama  SEC
Auburn  SEC
Florida  SEC
Florida State ACC
Georgia  SEC
L.S.U.   SEC
Michigan B1G
Nebraska B1G
Notre Dame ACC
Ohio State B1G
Oklahoma XII
Oregon   PAC
Penn State B1G
Stanford  PAC
Texas  XII
Texas A+M SEC
USC  PAC
CBBNation (men's basketball blogs)N Carolina ACC

In essence those are the most valuable brands, at least in the eyes of ESPN.

Here's how that breaks down by P5 conference:

1. SEC [6]: AL, AU, FL, GA, LSU, TAM
2. B1G [4]: MI, NEB, OSU, PSU
3. Pac-12 [3]: OR, STAN, USC
4. ACC [2.5]: FSU, UNC, ND
5. Big XII [2]: OKLA, TEXAS"

Most Valuable Brands

"From Wall Street Journal online:  There are 8 ACC teams (plus Notre Dame) in the 50 most valuable college football teams.

#  Team/Brand  Est. Value 
2. Notre Dame $811.5M 
...9 SEC and  6 B1G teans... 
22. Florida St $277.9M 
25. Clemson $242.6M 
... 
31. Va Tech $203.7M 
33. Ga Tech $184.9M 
35. Miami $180.8M 
... 
44. N Carolina $131.8M 
47. N C State $119.3M 
49. Syracuse $105.7M 

SOURCE: Wall Street Journal article - LINK.

From a football-only point-of-view it's clear to everyone that FSU, Clemson, VT, GT and Miami are the 5 most valuable properties in the ACC.  Of course, when you factor in basketball brand as well the order shifts in favor of UNC and Louisville, but even without that factor you have to be somewhat impressed that Syracuse of all teams made its way into the top 50 for football brand value.

 

BOTTOM LINE:

The SEC has 9 teams in the top 21, but the ACC has only 8 teams in the top 50.  To change this, ACC teams (other than just the top 8) will need to win non-conference games.  This is a zero-sum game; for the overall value of the ACC to rise in the rankings, teams will have to jump over those from other conferences. Hopefully playing more Big Ten teams (instead of constantly banging up against the SEC) will give those mid-level ACC teams a realistic chance to do that. "

 

 

Most valuable teams

 

"Here are the most valuable college football teams* (in $millions)

1. Texas $875
2. Notre Dame $811.5

...9 SEC and  6 B1G teans...

22. Florida State $277.9
25. Clemson $242.6
31. Va Tech $203.7
33. Ga Tech $184.9
35. Miami $180.8
 
... before UNC are 10 of the 12 Pac-12 teams, 7 Big XII teams, 9 Big Ten teams, and 11 SEC teams ...

44. N Carolina $131.8
47. N C State $119.3
49. Syracuse $105.7

*SOURCE: Wall Street Journal Online - LINK.

ANALYSIS: Most of the teams in the top 20 in terms of dollar value are either SEC or Big Ten teams.  This makes sense when you consider that these teams have the largest fan followings.  It's good that 8 of 14 ACC teams (57%) are in the 22 to 49 range, however, the ACC is a couple of notches below the other P5 leagues at this time, financially at least.

Percent of teams above 44th:
Pac-12: 10/12 (83%)
SEC: 11/14 (78%)
B1G: 9/12 (75%)
Big XII: 7/10 (70%)

ACC: 5/14 (36%)

Looks pretty bleak for the ACC, doesn't it?  Is this data misleading? Of course it is! First of all, one of the least valuable ACC teams - Maryland - is leaving; it will be replaced by a much more valuable team - Louisville.  Moreover, the ACC has a partial member who is ranked #2 overall - Notre Dame.
[UPDATE: I forgot to mention - 3 teams in the range #44 - #49 also evens things out a bit, giving the ACC 8/14 in the top 50 ( 57%)]
 

BOTTOM LINE:

When it comes to football team valuations, the ACC obviously still has work to do.  Nonetheless, I don't think it's so bad that ACC fans should panic, either. If teams continue to win big bowl games like the Orange Bowl and keep winning national championships like Florida State just did, the money part will start to turnaround again. "

2012-13 Revenue Review

"USA Today has the financials for each public school* posted [LINK].  Here are the ACC schools total revenues and expenses (better late than never):

NCAA Finances
RANK  SCHOOL____   TOT REVENUE   TOT EXPENSES 
13    Florida St  $100,049,444   $90,278,878
20    Louisville   $87,840,501   $84,133,793
25    N Carolina   $82,424,430   $81,921,783
27    Virginia     $80,835,566   $75,437,849
34    Va Tech      $70,723,748   $66,970,798
37    Clemson      $70,002,280   $67,783,797
39    Maryland     $68,142,660   $68,109,639
44    Ga Tech      $63,184,163   $61,179,789
46    NC State     $59,757,911   $56,332,313

* private schools are not required to publish this information.

Here is one example, the highest-earning ACC team - FSU:

SCHOOL FINANCES - Florida State
YEAR Tickts Donate Rights Studs Schl  OTHER  $TOTAL 
2012 $20.4M $31.0M $36.5M $7.8M $0.00 $4.4M  $100.0M
2011 $18.0M $19.3M $27.4M $7.5M $0.00 $6.3M  $ 78.6M
2010 $15.8M $23.3M $25.9M $6.9M $350K $ 2.3M $ 74.4M
2009 $18.3M $25.6M $25.7M $6.8M $700K $-2.6M $ 74.4M
2008 $13.4M $25.2M $24.3M $6.6M $0.00 $ 3.9M $ 73.5M
2007 $15.3M $22.8M $21.7M $6.1M $350K $11.1M $ 77.3M
2006 $13.3M $16.1M $19.5M $6.0M $350K $11.8M $ 67.0M
2005 $12.7M $16.4M $17.2M $4.8M $0.00 $ 5.5M $ 56.6M

Tickts - Ticket Sales
Donate - Donations
Rights - Rights & Licensing
Studs - Student Fees
Schl - School Funds
Other - Other Revenue

For a more detailed explanation of these columns, click here.

BOTTOM LINE:

The top schools revenue-wise are Texas, Oklahoma, and a bunch of Big Ten and SEC schools.  Florida State and Louisville appear in the top 20, as does Oregon of the Pac-12.  There are various ways these schools get to these high revenue numbers, but most of the top earners have one thing in common - very high ticket sales (some twice as much as FSU). There may not be much ACC teams can ever do about the ticket sales gap when competing against teams with much larger alumni bases. However, FSU and Louisville prove that high levels of revenue can be achieved.

Overall the ACC schools are positioned nicely.  None of them are below 65th (the number of teams in the P5 next season), so I don't see where money alone will prevent these teams from competing - as long as they spend that money wisely."

Report: Alabama athletic revenues higher than all 30 NHL teams, most NBA teams

"Other major programs such as Florida ($129 million), Ohio State ($123 million), Michigan ($122 million), Southern California ($97 million) and Oregon ($81 million) also are grossing massive dollars. They are also spending big bucks, too.
Most universities are just trying to keep pace in the arms race of college athletics, reporting spending as much — or more — than they are making annually. Many athletic departments also receive subsidies from universities in the form of student fees."

The Most Valuable Conferences In College Sports

"1. Big Ten
Total income: $310 million
Bowl games: $40 million
NCAA tournaments: $20 million
Television revenue: $250 million

The Big Ten Network, which is 49% owned by the conference, has become a veritable cash cow. Though the Big Ten only receives half of the network's revenues, the upcoming additions of Maryland and Rutgers could inject as much as $100 million into the conference annually.

2. Pac-12
Total income: $303 million
Bowl games: $39 million
NCAA tournaments: $14 million
Television revenue: $250 million

The Pac-12 has had trouble securing cable syndication for its new conference-specific network, and the conference's sole ownership of the network means that it's also fully responsible for covering start-up and operating costs. Despite the short-term struggles, the network is projected to distribute an average $30 million per school annually over the 12-year life of the current TV contracts.

3. ACC
Total income: $293 million
Bowl games: $35 million
NCAA tournaments: $17 million
Television revenue: $240 million

Even after signing a new $3.6 billion TV deal with ESPN the ACC was hounded with realignment rumors. And though Maryland eventually announced its departure for the Big Ten, the conference offered a strong response by adding Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Louisville and non-football Notre Dame.

4. SEC
Total income: $270 million
Bowl games: $50 million
NCAA tournaments: $15 million
Television revenue: $205 million

The SEC will soon reap a double benefit from being the nation's top football conference. The conference annually maxes out its BCS revenue (nearly $30 million this year) in addition to playing in some of the more valuable non-BCS bowls, like the Outback Bowl. Meanwhile its superior football play will soon attract the nation's richest TV deal for a college conference. "

"By contrast, the ACC and Big 12 each signed new TV deals within the last year that pay more per member school than the SEC’s ($17 million and $20 million, respectively, compared to $15 million). In fact, the Big 12 jumps to the top of the list when measured in terms of per-school income from television, bowls and the NCAA tournament. You might be hard pressed to find someone who thinks that either the ACC or Big 12 is truly more valuable than the SEC, but the two conferences are currently paid as if that’s the case.

SEC fans have little reason to worry, however, because the conference is in the process of renegotiating its current television contracts and is reportedly also considering the formation of an SEC-specific network. The new deal should be the richest in college sports, regardless of the specific details, and the conference’s patience in negotiating a new contract is further proof of its underlying superiority. The ACC and Big 12 were forced to quickly sign TV deals due to concerns that conference members might otherwise leave for greener pastures."