Why ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips believes there will be a ‘reset in college sports’

Amid all the uncertainties surrounding college athletics these days — from the specifics of the House settlement and how it’ll play out to the continued lobbying of Congress to make laws covering athlete compensation to whatever conference realignment domino next falls — ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips at least knows this much:

“There’s going to be a reset in college sports,” he said Thursday. “And it’s OK. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be the end of college sports, by any means. It’s going to look different.”

How different and how soon are the questions. Phillips on Thursday spoke at the annual meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors, an organization that represents newspapers and websites and advocates for sports journalism. The APSE’s 2024 convention began this week in Charlotte, with Phillips appearing for a 45-minute question-and-answer session he agreed to be on the record.

Well, almost on the record.

The only questions Phillips didn’t want to answer were about the degree to which the ACC would embrace funding from private equity, which is something Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark recently indicated he’d support, and whether the ACC might consider selling its own naming rights — something else Yormark has floated as a potential revenue-generator for his league.

In the ACC, “you’re looking at all areas of revenue,” Phillips said, leaving his answer at that.

As always, the pursuit of revenue is at the forefront of just about every major discussion throughout the highest level of college athletics, particularly with the impending settlement of litigation that is expected to lead to conferences surrendering billions of dollars in back pay to athletes. The so-called House Settlement is expected to be a transformative moment.

Among its ramifications is the likelihood that schools will start to pay athletes directly, though the exact framework of the settlement — and its innumerable details — remain unclear. In addition to that, college sports leaders are still attempting to lobby Congress to pass a law that would regulate name, image and likeness deals, and protect the NCAA against future litigation.

Then there’s everything related to conference realignment, which has upended college sports in recent years — and some of the rivalries and tradition that have made them what they are — in the name of chasing football television dollars. The Big Ten and the SEC, already the two wealthiest leagues in the country, have only grown stronger during that realignment.

ACC legal fights

The Pac-12, meanwhile, has essentially been forced into extinction. The ACC has fought the narrative that it, too, is in the midst of an existential crisis — and the conference is facing a literal legal fight in courtrooms in Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. Florida State sued the ACC in December and Clemson in March, with both seeking a way out of the ACC’s Grant of Rights agreement that was designed to give the league control over its members’ television rights.

The ACC countersued both schools, in hopes of upholding the Grant of Rights. Phillips did not give the impression on Thursday that the ACC would consider settling the case.

“We’re going to fight it with every effort that we can,” he said of the lawsuits. “With what has been agreed upon, twice, the Grant of Rights deserves to be executed. And so we have taken that position.”

Phillips emphasized the lawsuits haven’t changed how the conference has attempted to support the athletes and teams at Florida State and Clemson. Phillips recently returned from Omaha, where FSU had been the last remaining ACC team in the College World Series.

Three other conference teams — N.C. State, North Carolina and Virginia — also reached Omaha, Nebraska, and the College World Series, offering a fitting end to what’d been a memorable on-the-field 2023-24 sports year for the ACC. Off the field, though, the lawsuits are “damaging to the league,” Phillips said, and “harmful to the league.”

“This is a beautiful league that’s been around a long time. Seventy years. And it’s meant a lot — to this part of the country, and to college sports. And the success that this league has had, the opportunities this league has had, for young people. I’ll stand up against any league, about what it’s delivered for young people.

“So we’re going to fight. I’m going to fight. And the courts will ultimately decide. And we believe that everybody knows what was in that contract back then. And it was celebrated. And people were excited. A new network (with ESPN). We’d just lost Maryland, and it was a chance for unity and togetherness and the rest of it.

“And there was a unanimous acceptance of, ‘this is a great deal for the ACC.’ And that has changed in the minds of a couple.”

Just about everything has changed throughout major college athletics, Phillips said. Indeed, a reset is coming. It’s a question now of how quickly, and what it might look like.

Here are some other topics Phillips addressed:

▪ On college sports betting, and particularly athlete-focused prop-betting: “Absolutely, that is a runaway train, if we can’t get our hands on that. Props are definitely — that’s a major concern. ... I’m really concerned. I’m very concerned about the safety of student athletes, certainly concerned about game fixing.”

▪ On protecting Title IX as college sports continues to evolve, with athletes likely receiving direct compensation: “We have to protect Title IX. And the ACC in particular has been what I believe to be a leader. We offer 28 sports, as many as FBS conference. Fifteen of those sports are women’s sports ... so whether it’s what the model looks like moving forward, with the settlement; or whether it’s NIL moving forward, there has to be equity there. There has to be.”

▪ On the expansion of the NCAA Tournament, which Phillips described as a “crown jewel” of college athletics: “To me modest expansion is something that I will prefer over something greater than that.”

In the Spotlight designates ongoing topics of high interest that are driven by The News & Observer’s focus on accountability reporting.