ACC paid – In 2024-25 tax filings, the ACC reported about $826.5 million in revenue and paid full-share football schools an average of nearly $47.1 million, while the Big 12 reported $610.9 million and paid an average of about $39.5 million. Both leagues show record reve
For the 14 ACC football-playing schools that qualify for full-distribution shares, the math in the latest tax filings is stark: the league paid an average of nearly $47.1 million each.
That’s for the 2024-25 sports season—covered by the filings reported this month. spanning July 2024 through June 2025. and arriving in the middle of national realignment that created four “superconferences.” The ACC says it brought in about $826.5 million in revenue for the season. marking a sixth straight year with a record total.
The Big 12’s figures are large, too, but smaller: it reported about $610.9 million in revenue for 2024-25 and paid an average of around $39.5 million to its full-share football members, a slight decline compared with the year before.
The gap becomes impossible to miss when the two leagues are placed next to the ones everyone is chasing. In the same season, both the Big Ten and the SEC crossed the $1 billion mark in total revenue. The Big Ten paid an average of nearly $79.9 million to full-share members. while the SEC paid an average of nearly $72.4 million.
Inside the ACC, new entrants helped shape the distribution numbers. California, Stanford and SMU joined the league and received reduced shares averaging about $19.9 million as part of their deals. Notre Dame, still a football independent, received a partial share of $18.1 million.
The ACC’s season also included the first year of the league’s new “success initiative,” championed by commissioner Jim Phillips. Under that framework, schools can keep more of the postseason money generated from their own success rather than distributing those revenues equally across all members.
That setup mattered for at least two teams in different ways. Clemson earned the highest payout at $55.1 million, including $4 million for making the College Football Playoff for the 2024 season. SMU’s payout came in at $17 million. and it included the same $4 million bump tied to SMU’s own College Football Playoff appearance for the 2024 season.
The ACC has also revamped its revenue-distribution plan to factor in TV viewership and reward top-draw schools, but the effect of that change won’t show up until the tax filing for the 2025-26 season next year.
In the Big 12, new membership also changed the payout landscape. The league added Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah from the Pac-12 for the 2024-25 season, and those schools all received full payouts ranging between $37.9 million and $43 million.
The Big 12 had already added BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF with reduced-share payouts, and those averaged about $20.8 million in the most recent tax filing.
ACC revenue 2024-25 Big 12 revenue NCAA football distribution Jim Phillips success initiative College Football Playoff payout Big Ten revenue SEC revenue tax filings 990
So ACC got paid more than Big 12… cool I guess.
Wait, they say ACC paid like $47M average but Big Ten is $79M? How is anybody even staying in the ACC then. Sounds like the whole conference realignment thing is just money forever.
“Success initiative” is probably just a fancy way of saying some teams get more because they win right? Like if you’re good you get paid and if you’re not you get less. Also why is Stanford/SMU getting reduced shares like that’s not still ACC too?
This math makes no sense to me because I swear I heard Big 12 was bigger than ACC revenue. Maybe it’s only certain schools qualifying for “full-share” or whatever. And Notre Dame getting partial share while independent… that feels backwards. Like if you’re independent why are you in their numbers at all? Also 2024-25 tax filings reported this month?? Seems late.