The Atlantic Coast Conference set league records for revenue and member payouts yet also had a growing legal bill amid since-settled lawsuits from members Clemson and Florida State, according to the league’s most recent tax filing.
The 990 tax form covering the 2023-24 season reported the league’s revenue increased to about $711.4 million, up slightly from $706.6 million a year earlier. That allowed the ACC to pay an average of nearly $45 million to its 14 football-playing members — Louisville ($46.4 million) and Florida State ($46.3 million) had the highest hauls — while Notre Dame made $20.7 million for its partial share as a football independent.
Those figures don’t reflect the arrivals of California, SMU and Stanford as new members that pushed the league to 18 schools for the 2024-25 school year and athletic calendar. Nor does it include the “success initiative” championed by commissioner Jim Phillips that went into effect at the same time for schools to keep more money generated by their own postseason success.
The ACC has also revamped its revenue-distribution plan to factor in TV viewership and reward top-draw schools. That takes effect in 2025-26 as part of the settlement that ended the threats from the Clemson and Florida State lawsuits challenging the league’s ability to charge massive exit fees if they tried to join another conference.
Phillips has talked about his league’s “aggressive” efforts to generate more revenue amid a growing gap behind the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference, though the ACC has been ahead of the smaller Big 12 in revenue and payouts in its filings to solidify itself in third place in terms of conference power.