The 4 most troubling realities from Jim Phillips’ remarks at ACC Kickoff
CHARLOTTE — I’m not going to take issue with all of the glowing things Jim Phillips said about the Atlantic Coast Conference and its future during his opening remarks Tuesday at ACC Kickoff.
Do I really believe he is “bullish” about the league’s future? Not really.
Do I think he actually sees the league as “healthy” and strong when compared to the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten? I do not.
But what else is he going to say? “Guys, this thing is a sinking ship. Grab your life preservers while you can!”
Of course not. He has to put on a brave face — as brave of a face as he can muster, which didn’t seem all that brave on Tuesday — and recite the company line. That all of the ACC schools are working together and that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. And Phillips did just that during his nearly one-hour address.
The good news is we don’t need the ACC Commissioner to come out and say what the rest of us are thinking. Just reading between the lines and using a little common sense, there were several comments Phillips made that paint a pretty clear — and bleak — picture of the conference’s situation.
Here are four at the top of my list.
Truly closing the revenue gap is not realistic
For a decade or more, the conference leadership has talked extensively about the need to close the gap between the ACC’s annual revenue distribution and what schools in other conferences are receiving each year. That topic has never been more relevant than it is today, with projections showing that schools in the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten will soon be receiving $30 million to $40 million more than ACC schools every 12 months.
On Tuesday, Phillips was given the opportunity to admit that closing the revenue gap and pulling even with those other conferences is not possible, and he gladly took it.
A reporter asked the Commish if he thought it would be better to focus on finding a middle ground between the ACC’s current payouts and what those other schools will receive, and he said that is definitely the way he is looking at things.
“I think that’s the right approach to make it,” Phillips said. “Instead of trying to get a number, trying to bridge it as far as you can. How you get it done? You work collaboratively. That’s what we’ve done.”
The Notre Dame dream is over
Former ACC Commissioner John Swofford spent years trying to sell the dream of Notre Dame joining the conference on a full-time basis, which would have created a shift so dramatic that it almost could have single-handedly shrunken the revenue gap.
When Phillips replaced Swofford more than two years ago, the dream lived on. There was even additional hope that his connections to Notre Dame — where he worked two decades ago — would help pave the way to landing the Irish.
If anyone was still holding out hope, Phillips made it plainly clear Tuesday that it’s not even on the radar.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations, let me put it bluntly, with Notre Dame, and they’ve been very clear: They value their independence, and I think they feel strongly that that will continue well into the future,” Phillips said. “If they ever have the desire of joining the conference, they know that we would welcome them with open arms. … But they’ve been pretty clear about their desire to stay independent. So I don’t see that changing any time soon.”
No specifics offered on … well … anything
In fairness to Phillips, none of the ACC’s woes are a result of his doing.
The conference’s long-term television agreement was signed long before he joined the league, and the reality is there’s only so much any commissioner could do with this conference makeup. Give highly respected SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey the ACC to run, and see what kind of solutions he can come up with.
So I’m not asking him to be a miracle worker. But the fact that Phillips can’t point to any tangible specifics for how the league can improve its financial footing is a constant reminder of how little can really be done.
He said the ACC is working with an outside advertising agency on, “a new strategic marketing and branding initiative.”
He said repeatedly that ESPN and Disney are committed to helping the conference succeed: “I and the ACC have never felt better about our relationship than we do today. Our commitment to collaborate on [helping] the ACC from a revenue and exposure standpoint has been unwavering.”
But is improved branding going to bring in hundreds of millions of new dollars?
Is ESPN going to start paying substantially more for a league’s rights when it already owns them for another 13 years?
Like I said, I’m not necessarily blaming Phillips for not coming up with better answers. I just think the ones he’s suggesting prove that there are no good ones available.
Championship talk rings hollow
At several points during his Q&A Tuesday, Phillips took time to point out how successful the ACC has been on the field of play in recent years. He mentioned repeatedly that ACC schools won nine national championships this past school year, which was the most of any conference.
While that’s great and worth celebrating, it’s also ignoring the fact that winning titles in sports like cross country, soccer, tennis, swimming, field hockey and fencing isn’t doing much of anything to help the conference’s bottom line.
And what’s troubling is that Phillips seemed to be selling the idea that winning those titles is proof that the conference is on solid footing.
“I think one of the [university] presidents said it best: Are we chasing a dollar amount, or are we chasing success? I think there’s a difference there,” Phillips said. “If you are chasing a number, it takes you down a different path. If you are chasing success competitively in football and basketball and all of our sports, then I think every institution has an idea of what they need.
“So, again, I feel really strongly about this league, and I think people are missing it when they’re not paying attention to the results of how well the conference has done.”
Phillips also pointed out more than once that in the College Football Playoff era (since 2014), the ACC has won the second most national championships and made the second most CFP appearances of any league. What he didn’t mention was that in those nine seasons, SEC schools have won six national titles and ACC programs have won two. And that the SEC has won each of the past four.
As I’ve stated many times before, I don’t blame Phillips for the predicament he inherited as ACC Commissioner, and I won’t condemn him for trying to paint everything in the best possible light.
Because even with him doing that, the conference’s current reality and future prospects are plenty bleak already.
Contact Warchant managing editor Ira Schoffel at ira@warchant.com.
Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.
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