UNC insider: How the ACC can save itself from conference realignment madness | Opinion

In 2021, a secret proposal to form a European Super League was uncovered which led to extreme public backlash throughout the United Kingdom. The prime minister described the proposal as a cartel and suggested legislative action to stop it.

There were protests in the streets and organizing bodies (FIFA and UEFA) threatened to ban super league players from international competition. These actions successfully blocked the proposal and preserved tradition in the UK.

We are in a similar situation in the United States with our uniquely American college sport tradition. College sport superpowers — the Big 10, Big 12, and Southeastern Conferences — are paving the way for a super league in college football. And our Atlantic Coast Conference will likely be the next to react by becoming a conference with institutions on the Pacific Coast.

Once the west coast schools — USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington — officially join the Big 10 in 2024-2025, we have failed.

We have allowed football television revenue to take priority over common sense, iconic rivalries and athlete, coach and employee well-being. Football is driving the madness and all the other sports are being treated as commodities that must go along.

It’s complicated. There are so many contracts. There is no clear leader. In a game of whack-a-mole management, the NCAA points to the member schools, athletics administrators point to their presidents, the presidents point to the commissioners, and we all wonder who is in charge.

Currently we’re led by an alternative golden rule — those who have the gold make the rules. Broadcast revenue from big-time football is the largest source of revenue in collegiate athletics, and conference commissioners hired by presidents (under the demanding thumb of their boards of trustees) are charged to maximize these broadcast deals with pressure fueled by rising costs, recruiting pressure, and the allure of winning national championships.

Why are they in charge? Because of you. Because of me. Because of our eyes. Because we’ve decided to have community rituals surrounding football powerhouses that yield industry-leading ratings and commercial profitability.

But our TV-viewing eyes can be diverted. Contracts can be revised. Leaders and athletes can sit in a conference room and generate innovative value-driven solutions that improve the health of the entire industry and stop the madness of conference realignment.

Our call to action?

First, be a discriminating consumer by directing your eyes and wallet toward systems with value congruency. Conference realignment illuminates capitalistic values in action. These actions do not align with the stated missions of our universities. If wealth creation is the aim, organizational systems should realign. If education is the aim, athletics should be an integrated part of the educational system with organizational structures akin to music, dance or theater.

Second, wielding the power of our viewership, we must demand our football leaders (conference commissioners, College Football Playoff (CFP) members, and NCAA leaders) separate football from the traditional conference systems to put an end to impractical conference realignment and make college football more accountable for its national expenses and liability. (See Knight Commission and LEAD1 recommendations.)

Third, consider a football revenue sharing relegation model separate from the current conference system. Relegation provides an avenue of hope for all college football programs and an escape from the very real and overwhelming fear of getting left behind.

Fourth, encourage athlete unionization to amplify their voice within the educational and economic framework they navigate.

The ACC is at a precipice. Our presidents are expected to meet in the next week and re-vote on conference expansion. They are faced with tremendous political pressure to follow the pack — to not get left behind, to not become the next victim of the super conference movement initiated by the SEC and Big 10.

Let’s let football operate independently from the NCAA and conference framework, permitting conferences and the NCAA to focus on regional reconstruction. Let us be proactive. Let us unite in our voices, be conscious consumers, and lead by our actions.

A football-only relegation system gives hope to all in the system and can provide a path toward reversing the completely illogical and harmful coast-to-coast conference madness. It’s not too late...is it?

This story was originally published August 30, 2023 at 11:37 AM with the headline "UNC insider: How the ACC can save itself from conference realignment madness | Opinion."