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Louisville basketball: Pat Kelsey praises team after NCAA Tournament loss
Louisville basketball coach Pat Kelsey praises the Cardinals following an 89-75 loss to Creighton in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
- The ACC reported $487.1 million in television revenue for FY2024, up about $6 million from FY2023.
- The ACC had $711.4 million in total revenue during the 2024 fiscal year, the conference’s federal tax records show. This marks a small increase from the $706.7 million reported in 2023.
The ACC had $711.4 million in total revenue during the 2024 fiscal year, the conference’s federal tax records show. The league distributed between $43.1 million and $46.4 million to each of its member schools, except for Notre Dame, which received $20.7 million. The University of Louisville, which has been part of the ACC since 2014, received $46.4 million.
This revenue figure marks a small increase from the $706.7 million reported in 2023.
“It’s a high watermark for the league in the history of the league,” Commissioner Jim Phillips said Wednesday at ACC spring meetings in Amelia Island, Florida. “But I try not to sit still on any of that and try to continue to be creative in any ways we can generate and provide additional resources for our schools. But it’s in a really good path, and it’s going in the right direction.
“You just watch it over a period of time, and whether it was expansion, or some of the things with ESPN or even just with our championships, with football and basketball, it’s had a really nice positive effect for our schools.”
Revenue for the ongoing 2025 fiscal year will increase after the conference expanded to add California, Stanford and SMU. It will also be the first year of incentive payments for football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.
The ACC reported $487.1 million in television revenue for FY2024, up about $6 million from FY2023.
In January, ESPN exercised its opt-in clause with the ACC, extending their media rights deal through 2036. About two months later, Clemson, Florida State and the conference ended their lawsuits against each other. They agreed to a settlement dramatically reducing exit penalties and altering the league’s revenue-sharing system.
The cost of leaving the ACC will decline by $18 million every year through 2029-30. Then the fee will drop to $75 million, and schools will be able to retain their media rights with the league.
Under the new revenue-sharing model, the ACC will distribute 40% of TV deal money evenly among the league’s 14 most longstanding members — including Clemson, Florida State and Louisville. The other 60% will be distributed based on ratings from the past five years. Basketball and football ratings will be considered, though gridiron viewership will carry more weight, as it’s responsible for about 75% of the league’s TV revenue.
Louisville seems positioned pretty well behind the league’s biggest football brands in FSU, Clemson, Miami and Bill Belichick-led North Carolina. U of L’s football viewership ranked fifth in the ACC during the 2024 and 2021 seasons, according to Medium.com. The Cards were third in 2023 behind the Seminoles and Tigers.
This latest filing maintains the ACC’s standing among Power Four conferences as third behind the Big Ten and SEC in terms of wealth.
The Big Ten had just over $928 million in total revenue during FY2024, according to its federal tax returns, and paid its 12 longest-standing member schools about $63.2 million each. The SEC reported $840 million in total revenue and distributed an average of $52.5 million each to 14 member schools (not including Oklahoma and Texas). Both leagues expect to surpass $1 billion in revenue during the ongoing 2025 fiscal year, USA TODAY previously reported, when new TV deals reflecting conference expansion go into effect.
Meanwhile, the SEC and Big Ten are looking to position themselves even more favorably for the College Football Playoff, which would in turn mean more money in their pockets.
The CFP website laid out revenue distribution for the 2024-25 season as follows:
- “Each conference will receive $300,000 for each of its schools when the school’s football team meets the NCAA’s APR for participation in a postseason football game. Each independent institution will also receive $300,000 when its football team meets that standard.
- “A conference will receive $4 million for each team that makes the College Football Playoff (12 schools) and each team that advances to the Playoff Quarterfinals (eight schools).
- “A conference will receive $6 million for each team that advances to a Playoff Semifinal (four schools) and each team that advances to the national championship game (two schools).
- “Each conference whose team participates in the College Football Playoff will receive $3 million to cover expenses for each round.”
The SEC and Big Ten are lobbying for a 16-team playoff (up from the current field of 12) with four automatic qualifiers each for themselves, two each for the ACC and Big 12, and four at-large bids.
Phillips told reporters at ACC spring meetings that he remains “steadfast about fairness in the system and access, regardless of the model.” Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm said he “100%” disagrees with the automatic bid model, instead saying “if it expands to 16, put the 16 best teams in.”
Louisville, as the final poll’s No. 15 team, would’ve been included under that criteria in 2023. The ACC would’ve had three teams in last season as well: Clemson (ACC championship game winner), SMU (ACC regular-season champion) and Miami (No. 13 in the final poll).
Phillips, the league’s highest-paid official, received nearly $4.1 million in total compensation, including $3.95 million in base compensation. That base amount marks about a 50% increase from his total for the 2022 calendar year. USA TODAY reported that this was, per a league spokesperson, “a compensation adjustment at the direction of the board” of directors of the conferences, which is composed of school CEOs.
Also, the ACC’s outside legal expenses increased from $7.2 million in FY2023 to $12.3 million, as it fought lawsuits with Clemson and Florida State and the House v. NCAA litigation.
Reach college sports enterprise reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com, and follow her on X @petitus25.
#University #Louisville #46.4M
