Sources: ACC meets, still evaluating Stanford, Cal
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Pete Thamel, ESPN
The ACC presidents met Tuesday morning about the potential addition of Stanford and Cal but did not vote on the matter, sources told ESPN. Instead, the league will continue to explore the additions and is “still evaluating” the schools, sources said.
No decisions are expected imminently, as another call of the athletic directors just to further dig into the finances is expected in the near future. A timeline is fluid, according to sources, but it would be surprising if a decision either way was reached this week.
The ACC completed its initial pair of exploratory calls, one of which was with the athletic directors Monday and another with the presidents Tuesday. Those were considered the first steps in a complicated process for a league that finds itself at a compelling crossroads.
The ACC’s deliberations on Cal and Stanford come amid a fascinating moment, as multiple unhappy schools need to make a decision within the next week about whether they want to leave their league in the next week.
There’s an Aug. 15 deadline for schools to notify the ACC if they want to leave and change leagues for the 2024 season, a date that’s been highlighted because of Florida State‘s vocal unhappiness about league revenues. (Also complicating matters was that seven schools — FSU, Miami, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia and NC State — were communicating about options outside the ACC earlier this year.)
While the general expectations remain that no school will leave just yet, the mere possibility and FSU’s vocal unrest leave the league in a muddled place.
The potential of programs leaving has the more entrenched schools within the league pondering what the next iteration of the ACC could look like, making unanimity nearly impossible to reach within the room. For the ACC to vote in Cal and Stanford — if a vote ever arises — it would require three-fourths of the league’s presidents/chancellors to approve, which means 12 of the 15 schools.
The argument for the move is rooted in the strong reputations of the schools combined with the notion of there being safety in numbers, especially at a time of disruption in college athletics.
“I think the undercurrent is that this is clearly evolving,” one ACC source said of the collegiate landscape. “For us to sit here and say it’s not going to evolve, or be different than what it is today, would be really shortsighted. I’m not sure what schools are going to do, but to sit here and say it’s going to be static — that isn’t happening.”
Without the move being significantly financially additive, the support is far from unanimous. The cost of travel would need to be addressed, as the idea of Stanford and Cal getting less than a full share has been discussed. Some of that money could be shifted to travel costs.
The ACC has been generally quiet during the latest ripples of realignment. The SEC fortified itself two summers ago, with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma coming next year. The Big Ten has added USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington in the past 13 months, with all of them also arriving next year. The Big 12 has added four news schools — Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah — in recent weeks, and they also will debut in their new league next year.
That leaves some aggrieved ACC schools seeking greener pastures, but there are both exorbitant exit fees — nearly $120 million per school — and the risk of going to court to win back the rights to their games to consider. The ACC television contract is through 2036 and includes a grant of the schools’ rights through then, so any exit promises to be expensive and riddled with legal challenges.
The ACC schools exploring exiting also do not appear to have anywhere to immediately go, which layers the move in complications. No league can promise them a spot because of the threat of tortious interference, and most leagues would want to see how the legal battles sort out before offering an invitation.
That leaves the other ACC schools seeking some security, which both Cal and Stanford would represent as strong academic schools with established brands and athletic departments.
“The value equation isn’t always tied to money,” an ACC source told ESPN. “Are we really going to sit here and say two of the best institutions in the world have no value? That’s a crazy notion to me.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Pittsburgh Pirates are back on the board after Tommy Pham‘s two-run home run in the third inning at Kansas City on Monday night ended a 30-inning scoreless streak.
The Pirates had been shut out in all three games at Seattle during their previous series.
However, they tallied another loss against the Royals, losing 9-3.
The scoreless streak included Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Mariners in which Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes threw 10 strikeouts in five scoreless innings before the Pirates gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth.
Before beginning this nine-game trip with the sweep by the Mariners, the Pirates had blanked the St. Louis Cardinals in three consecutive home games. Their streak of playing in six straight shutouts matched the longest in major league history.
Pham, a 12-year veteran who is in his first season with the Pirates, bookended the scoreless skid with RBIs. He drove in a seventh-inning run with a groundout Wednesday during the 5-0 victory over the Cardinals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Kansas legislative committee has extended a deadline for the Chiefs and Royals to take advantage of a stadium financing plan from the state.
The Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council on Monday unanimously approved the extension to use bonds to cover 70% of a new stadium’s cost if the teams decide to relocate to the state. The new deadline is June 30, 2026, although the committee indicated it is seeking an answer from the teams by Dec. 31 of this year.
Chiefs president Mark Donovan requested the extension late last month in a letter to Kansas Senate president Ty Masterson. The Royals verbally requested an extension around the same time. The deadline expired on June 30 but was retroactively extended Monday.
“Together, we have the opportunity to bring the National Football League to Kansas, anchored by a world-class domed stadium, new team headquarters, a state-of-the-art practice facility, and a vibrant mixed-use and entertainment district,” Donovan wrote in his letter to Masterson.
The Chiefs and Royals have played for more than five decades at the Truman Sports Complex on the east side of Kansas City, Missouri, where Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium share parking facilities. But leases with Jackson County are due to expire in January 2031, and the two franchises have been trying to plot a course forward for years.
Last year, Jackson County voters defeated a sales tax extension that would have helped to finance an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium — the home of the Chiefs — and a $2 billion ballpark district for the Royals in downtown Kansas City.
Last month, however, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session to approve a stadium financing deal that included disaster relief for the St. Louis area, where a series of devastating tornadoes caused widespread damage. The legislation authorizes bonds covering up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums in Missouri, plus up to $50 million in tax credits for each stadium and unspecified aid from local governments.
If they choose to stay in Missouri, the Chiefs have floated plans for a $1.15 billion renovation of Arrowhead Stadium. The Royals have insisted all along that they intend to build a replacement for Kauffman Stadium.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt has long professed his affinity for Arrowhead Stadium, which was built by his father and team founder Lamar Hunt. But he also is keenly aware of the revenue streams available by building a new domed stadium, including the chance to host the Super Bowl, the Final Four and other marquee sporting events.
Donovan commented Monday on the Chiefs’ looming stadium decision.
“Now, it’s literally getting down to the final points and making sure that everybody’s in agreement on what we need to do, and that we have all the pieces lined up,” he told reporters. “Because our job is to go to the Hunt family and suggest, ‘Here are your two options; they both make sense.'”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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