ACC income and payouts climbed in 2023-24. So too have legal bills in the midst of FSU, Clemson lawsuits

The Atlantic Coast Conference has drawn up league records for revenue and member payments, but has also had a growing legal bill amid since then lawsuits by members Clemson and Florida State, according to the league’s most recent tax solution. The 990 tax form covering the 2023-24 season reported that the league revenue rose to about $ 711.4 million, slightly higher than $ 706.6 million a year earlier. This enabled the ACC to pay an average of almost $ 45 million to its 14 football members ($ 46.4 million) and the FSU ($ 46.3 million) earned the highest travel-while Notre Dame earned $ 20.7 million for its partial share as a football-independent football. These figures do not reflect the arrivals of California, Stanford and Smu as new members to push the league to 18 schools for the 2024-25 season. It also does not include the “Success Initiative” advocated by commissioner Jim Phillips who came into effect this season for schools to preserve more money through their own success after the season. The ACC has also renovated its revenue distribution plan to take into account TV viewers and reward schools that reward top draws. It comes into effect next year as part of the settlement that ended the threats of the Clemson and FSU cases, which has the league’s ability to charge massive exit costs as they try to join another league. Phillips talked about the ‘aggressive’ efforts of the league to generate more income amid a growing gap behind the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences, although the league was the smaller Big 12 in turnover and payouts before the previous year. The launch of the ESPN Party ACC network in August 2019 was especially a boost. The league reported $ 288.6 million to TV revenue for the 2018-19 season before launching the network, but the figure reached $ 487.1 million for 2023-24-an increase of 68.8%. Yet in the midst of these profits, the league reported more than $ 12.3 million to legal expenses for 2023-24, a jump of 70.2% of the previous year ($ 7.2 million) when FSU filed a lawsuit in December 2023, and Clemson followed in March 2024. The increased legal costs also come in the midst of legal cases in the landscape of the country’s athletics. lawsuit filed by athletes against the NCAA and its greatest conferences. The settlement awaits the final approval by a federal judge before conditions can come into effect on July 1, such as schools that share more than $ 20 million with athletes annually. The ACC reported almost $ 19.6 million to legal expenses through its two most recent tax returns, similar to the joint total for the previous six years ($ 20.8 million). The resolution in the FSU and Clemson cases, along with ESPN in January, nevertheless offered its option to expand its base rights ACC Media Agreement to 2035-36, some league stability when it comes to the annual spring meetings in Florida this week. “Chaos and the constant wonder of what’s going on here or there, I just think it distracts from the business,” Phillips said. “But I feel good about where we are.” ___ Get a poll and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football