Demise of ACC accelerated by SEC and Big Ten's overwhelming NIL market share

Mike Farrell Sports' Kyle Golik sees the SEC and Big Ten's NIL market share -- 71% of all NIL payouts will come from the conference's Division I football teams alone per a report from Opendorse -- as something that's actively accelerating the ACC's demise.

"What the report didn’t reveal was a breakdown in the Power 4 between the 'Super 2' in the Big Ten and SEC versus the ACC, but it showed in a post-realignment chart that the 'Super 2' will command 71% of the market activity," Golik prefaced before saying, "With so much of the market activity with these two conferences it will be a race for the nation’s best to flock to these schools not only for the education and ability to play, but also for the best opportunities.

"It’s a statistic like this that only accelerates the eventual demise of the ACC as they have the smallest NIL Market Share of the Power 4 at 8%. Power schools like North Carolina, Clemson, and Florida State won’t sit idle as they won’t be able to compete with the 'Super 2' conferences. They know to attract top talent, they must have the opportunities not only on the field but also off of it."

The ACC could become the next AAC when FSU and Clemson leave

Chop Chat's Kelvin Hunt believes that once FSU and Clemson leave the ACC, it'll become the next AAC.

There's validity to that thought too -- the ACC's contingency plan in the event the exodus from FSU, Clemson, UNC, and others begins includes four teams from the American: Memphis, Tulane, UConn, and USF.

Certainly, there will be a loss of prestige from the ACC if this scenario unfolds. The teams it would be adding have less pull than the four teams the Big 12 added in 2023, with UCF and Cincinnati boasting impressive recent history.

How much different is the ACC from the AAC as things stand? For one, a single letter, but that aside, the NIL differences are minimal compared to the difference in payouts between the two conferences and the "Super 2," the SEC and Big Ten.