Report: ACC distributes record $826.5 million revenue for 2025 fiscal year

The ACC reportedly distributed a record $826.5 million in revenue among its 18 league members for the 2025 fiscal year, according to its latest annual tax form submitted to the IRS, which were obtained by USA Today. The ACC’s record revenue was reportedly fueled by $588.5 million in television money from ESPN as part of its expansion of the ACC Network.

These financial figures are from the FY2025, which includes the 2024 college football season, the ACC’s first with its expanded roster of teams after adding Cal, Stanford and SMU. The ACC’s minimum distribution among its 14 full-year participants was $42.8 million, while the newcomers and partial league member Notre Dame reportedly received between $17-23 million apiece, according to USA Today. The ACC’s highest individual distribution was $55.1 million to Clemson.

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The IRS tax report also revealed longtime ACC commissioner Jim Phillips’ annual compensation was $4.7 million, just behind SEC counterpart Greg Sankey ($4.8 million) and just ahead of the Big Ten’s Tony Petitti ($4.5 million), per USA Today.

The ACC’s record revenue figure was an increase of $115.1 million from fiscal year 2024, due in large part to approximately $100 million additional TV revenue received from ESPN following a renegotiation after adding Cal, Stanford and SMU during the last conference expansion race of 2023. It was the ACC’s sixth straight year of record revenue, per USA Today.

Pac-12 reports drastic revenue decrease in 2024-25 after conference realignment

When a groundbreaking wave of conference realignment swept college athletics ahead of the 2024-25 school year, the Pac-12 got caught in the middle. Only Oregon State and Washington State remained, and they began the process of rebuilding the league.

Following the wave of departures, the Pac-12 – as expected – reported a significant decrease in revenue. The conference’s tax return, obtained by USA Today, showed just how much it was impacted after the landscape transformed.

The Pac-12 reported $111.5 million in revenue in fiscal year 2025, which was a drastic decrease from the $566.6 million in revenue during the previous fiscal year, according to USA Today. A big reason for that decline was the conference’s new-look TV deal with The CW and FOX Sports. Rights fees dropped from $381 million in fiscal year 2024 to just $3 million in 2025 when the league went to just two members.

As a result of the revenue decreases, the Pac-12 reported a $21.7 million deficit and $133.2 million in expenses. In a press release Friday, the conference said fiscal year 2025 “is the first of two build-up years ahead of the Pac-12’s launch as a new conference beginning with the 2026-27 season.”

— On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.