SEC commish takes brutal dig at new ACC revenue model

Last week, the ACC acceded to the demands of Clemson and Florida State, approving an unequal revenue format to retain its two biggest programs. The Southeastern Conference won't follow the example set by the neighboring conference, commissioner Greg Sankey said.

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Of the new ACC revenue model, the SEC commissioner said, according to Scott Hamilton of the Post and Courier:

“There’s a history of unequal revenue sharing, and those conferences, it just hasn’t worked well for a long-term situation. In fact, the conferences that have chosen to do so have generally, either they don’t exist at a high level, or they’ve gone a different direction.

“I’m sure that what others have done will introduce the conversation. I would hope we’re careful and responsible in how we do that. They made the decision for their purposes. That doesn’t necessarily mean that fits our purposes or our values.”

Several college football analysts have raised the point that a similar agreement in the Big 12 a little over a decade ago led to Texas A&M and Missouri leaving for the SEC and the conference's revenue stream decreasing.

Greg McElroy on why unequal revenue sharing won't work for the ACC

One of the first to raise the historical parallels between the new ACC revenue-sharing model and historical examples was ESPN's Greg McElroy (Timestamp: 5:30):

"We have seen this model fail before. This happened to the Big 12. Remember when Texas went in there and said, 'Hey, this is what we want. We're going to go to the Pac-12 unless you give us uneven revenue distribution. We want the rights to launch the Longhorn Network, all these other things.'

"Texas did this in the Big 12, and what did that lead to? It led to Texas A&M and Missouri leaving the league to join the SEC."

Texas didn't remain in the Big 12 for long, either. The Longhorns now inhabit the SEC, too. The conference sacrificed its midsized programs just to end up losing its two biggest ones further down the road (Oklahoma also joined the SEC).

Will the ACC sacrifice the likes of North Carolina, Miami or Georgia Tech in a desperate attempt to retain Clemson and Florida State?