Conference realignment 2024: SMU joins ACC with $159 million backing after 11 years in the American

SMU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday as the 2024-25 academic year commences. The Mustangs agreed to make the move last offseason after the conference embarked on expansion following the Pac-12's implosion.

Of the three schools that were added by the ACC, SMU was the only one that came from outside the Power Five. It practically needed to accept a bigger financial concession than Stanford and Cal. The Mustangs agreed not to take television revenue distribution in their first seven years.

The university was able to afford the heavy concession due to its strong donor base. The athletic department announced in June that it raised a record-breaking $159 million in the last academic year, showcasing the support it has garnered since sealing the move.

“Look, a lot of it is attributable to the transition,” SMU athletic director Rick Hart said. “There’s no doubt about it. In fact, there’s a pretty straight line that $125 million of it or so was to support this transition.

“Having said that, it was still a very strong fundraising year, even absent that, but it’s certainly not $159 million. And so I think it speaks to the enthusiasm around the opportunity that this provides, not just athletics, but really the university.”

Taking the huge concession was part of SMU’s plan to seal the realignment move

SMU had long had the ambition to gain Power Five status. A few years back, it lobbied the Pac-12 for a move. When the ACC opportunity presented itself, the university was ready to give all that it took to seal the move.

Athletic director Rick Hart recently told On3 that offering the ACC the huge financial concession was the Mustang’s plan to convince the conference to accept its membership bid.

“We knew because it’s publicly known that if the ACC were to expand, not only were they going to do so, unless it was revenue neutral, but really, it needed to be revenue positive,” Hart said.

“And we knew that. You figure out, what does that look like? How does that work for us? How does that work for them? Is there alignment where we both feel like we’re benefiting?”

Hart further made it known that SMU is putting everything in place ahead of its first season in the ACC. The university is getting the Gerald J. Ford Stadium ready as it prepares to host Power Five conference opponents for the first time in the upcoming season after 11 years in the American Athletic Conference.