ACC to Add Stanford, Cal, SMU to Conference in 2024 amid Pac-12 Realignment Rumors

After much debate and speculation, the ACC is adding Stanford, California and SMU.

ESPN's Pete Thamel first reported ACC presidents and chancellors voted Friday to extend invites to all three schools amid the ongoing realignment across college athletics.

The conference officially announced the move, with SMU joining effective July 1, 2024, and Stanford and Cal joining effective Aug. 2, 2024. All three schools will be full members with full voting participation.

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips issued a statement in the announcement:

"We are thrilled to welcome three world-class institutions to the ACC, and we look forward to having them compete as part of our amazing league. Throughout the evaluation process, the ACC Board of Directors, led by President Ryan, was deliberate in prioritizing the best possible athletic and academic experience for our student-athletes and in ensuring that the three universities would strengthen the league in all possible ways. Cal, SMU and Stanford will be terrific members of the ACC and we are proud to welcome their student-athletes, coaches, staff and entire campus community, alumni and fans."

Brett McMurphy of Action Network noted Clemson, FSU and North Carolina did not vote in favor of the additions.

There has been a lot of discussion around the proposed expansion for the ACC. Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde and Richard Johnson reported on Aug. 11 that Stanford and Cal fell one vote short of receiving membership, with Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina and NC State opposed to the move.

North Carolina chairman David L. Boliek Jr. and vice chair John P. Preyer said Thursday a "strong majority" of the school's board of trustees opposed the additions of Stanford, Cal and SMU.

ESPN's Andrea Adelson noted Florida State president Richard McCullough told the school's board of trustees it would "very seriously" consider leaving the ACC without a significant change to the conference's revenue distribution model.

One issue is the ACC's 20-year media rights deal with ESPN that was signed in 2016 and runs through the 2035-36 academic year.

Per Shehan Jeyarajah of CBS Sports, each ACC school received nearly $40 million as part of the ESPN deal for the 2022 calendar year.

The $4.8 billion in total value for the media rights deal is significantly behind the $8.05 billion the Big Ten will earn from its seven-year agreements with Fox, NBC and CBS that start in 2023 and $7.1 billion the SEC will earn during its 10-year pact with ESPN that begins in 2024.

With the additions, ESPN is required to pay the ACC more in yearly media rights revenue with the new members receiving lower payouts initially before gradually ramping up over time.

In May, the ACC amended its revenue model to include "success incentives" that would give additional payouts to programs based on how well they perform in an attempt to keep pace with teams in higher-revenue conferences like the Big Ten and SEC.

The ACC will have 18 members when Stanford, Cal and SMU are added next year. This also leaves the Pac-12 in even more dire straits with Oregon State and Washington State now the only schools remaining in the conference after the 2023-24 academic year.