If Clemson and FSU leave ACC in pursuit of a Big Ten membership, how much will each team make in 2024?

Clemson and FSU could make a lot of money if they leave the ACC.

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has been one of the few conferences to add teams, as they added the Stanford Cardinal, SMU Mustangs and California Golden Bears.

However, that could be one of the reasons that teams like the Clemson Tigers and Florida State Seminoles could look elsewhere. User Genetics56 on X posted about how joining the Big Ten could be an incredible financial decision if they were to leave the ACC.

"I've said this hundreds of times, but the Big Ten TV deal with exclusive time slots on OTA (CBS, NBC and FOX) is the very best TV deal in the history of college athletics and it already paying off for CBS, FOX and NBC.

"This TV deal will forever change the direction of college football. When you are Florida State and Clemson, why would you want to tie yourself to further cable erosion when you leave the ACC? NBC, FOX and CBS prime tv slots of exclusitivity is unmatched against any other conference's tv deal."

The ACC is the worst-paying Power Five conference in terms of media rights deals, so leaving the conference is one of the potential moves for the talented programs. However, it will be interesting to see if Clemson and FSU get added to a top conference.

The Big Ten is in the midst of a seven-year, $7 billion deal with ESPN, where teams get $80-100 million per year. These schools would be full members and significantly increase revenues to the amount of a full member if they join.

Can the ACC survive losing Clemson and FSU?

The ACC will be one of the most interesting conferences going forward if the Clemson Tigers and the Florida State Seminoles explore their options. The current media rights deal has each member being paid $39.4 million, which is way behind what's paid at the other Power Five conferences.

As weird as it sounds, the conference potentially got weaker in the future for this expansion move. It makes sense in terms of preparing for the future, as ESPN has a renegotiation clause in their media rights deal if the conference drops below 15 members, which would significantly reduce the payments.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is in the midst of a 20-year contract with ESPN that expires following the 2036 college football season. So top teams like Clemson and FSU could garner a lot more revenue in a different conference.

This conference would be exponentially weaker, as other programs would look to leave. With how rival conferences were with the Pac-12, it would not be surprising to see the Atlantic Coast Conference suffer a similar fate.

Only time will tell, but in the long run, it will be difficult for the conference to survive without its two biggest schools.