While Clemson’s football program has started another season on the field, there’s still plenty of uncertainty as to what the future looks like off it for the Tigers and the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The latest round of conference realignment took place earlier this summer with the Big Ten poaching Southern California and UCLA from the Pac-12. That came a year after the SEC did the same to the Big 12 by snatching two of the most prominent brands in the sport, Texas and Oklahoma.
Not surprisingly, those conferences have negotiated new television deals that leave their fellow Power Five brethren, including the ACC, well behind in revenue. Most recently, the Big Ten agreed to a record-breaking, multi-platform media rights contract worth a total of $7 billion.
And the cost of doing business isn’t getting any cheaper. Thursday morning, Clemson gave Dabo Swinney a new 10-year contract that was made the Tigers’ head coach the latest $10-million man in the sport. His $10.5-million salary for the current calendar year makes him the second-highest paid in college football behind Alabama’s Nick Saban, the only other active FBS coach to have multiple national titles.
“Certainly the changing landscape and the finances of it has never been more dynamic,” Neff said just a few hours after Swinney’s new contract was approved.
Neff said he’s never been more convinced that the financial support of fans and boosters will help the program keep up. Yet despite being one of the sport’s elite for the better part of a decade – the Tigers have made six College Football Playoff appearances and won two national titles since 2014 – Clemson is part of a conference that’s being dwarfed by the leading two in revenue distribution.
Is Clemson committed to sticking it out long-term in the ACC? Or is there a possibility the program eventually seeks out a larger piece of financial pie elsewhere?
“My job is to focus on Clemson and make sure we’re as positioned and as well-read for the long term, so we continue to focus there,” said Neff, who was promoted to director of athletics following Dan Radakovich’s departure for Miami in December. “That being said, the work and the support within the ACC has been strong. Commissioner (Jim) Phillips has led well and been incredibly transparent. Everything is one table, to quote the commissioner, about strategies.
“I think that balance of mind and looking out for Clemson of course and the other athletic directors in our league, absolutely that’s our charge. But also doing it in concert to help further grow the ACC from a business positioning is that balance that we try to strike.”
Of course, there’s a substantial hurdle that isn’t giving ACC member institutions much of a choice at the moment. The league’s contract with ESPN, which runs through 2036, has a Grant-of-Rights agreement attached to it, which would force any schools looking to break away from the conference before the contract expires to pay an exit fee and surrender the entirety of their TV revenue to the league.
Asked if Clemson, with the help of legal counsel, has looked into some of the contract’s fine print, Neff answered in the affirmative. But Neff said not necessarily because the program is trying to find an out in order to potentially bolt for more money in another conference.
“But to understand what the parameters are,” Neff said. “And particularly with the Grant of Rights being a stability strength of the ACC, there’s a lot of really good value and opportunity with the Grant of Rights. That binds us, and there’s a lot to be said to that. I think it allows the ACC to operate from a position of strength related to membership affiliations, revenue opportunities, contract negotiations and TV negotiations.
“Again, we’re making sure to always focus and position Clemson as best we can. That certainly means we need to be well read on our contractual agreements, and the Grant of Rights is certainly a key part of it. But it’s all with the focus of how does that give us opportunity within the ACC to strengthen the position?”
For the time being, Clemson is doing what it can to try to help close the revenue gap. That includes the launch of Clemson+, a content streaming platform that’s exclusive to IPTAY members.
Neff said Clemson would ideally like to be a leader in the ACC when it comes to increasing revenue and better positioning the conference for future success, but he reiterated that the university he works for is his top priority within the shifting landscape of college athletics.
“I take my queues from President Clements and our board, so we’re always going to act in the best interest of Clemson,” Neff said.
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