Board moves ahead with policy that could stop UNC, NC State from leaving ACC

By Brian Murphy, WRAL Sports investigative reporter

Any UNC System school — and that includes UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University — that wants to change athletic conferences will have to get approval from the system president and the board under a policy change approved by a board committee Wednesday.

The change must be approved by the full 24-member Board of Governors before it goes into effect. The change will appear on the consent agenda at the board's Feb. 28-29 meeting.

The University Governance committee approved the move Wednesday.

"The purpose of this notice is to provide the President the opportunity to weigh in on the potential impacts of the agreement, including those that may impact the financial health of the intercollegiate athletic program, contract risk or legal risk associated with that agreement," Kellie Hunt Blue, chair of the university governance committee, told the board Thursday.

"The amendments also provide the Board of Governors with an opportunity to review any agreements and financial plans with legal counsel so that they may inform a constituent institution of any potential legal risk."

ACC future at risk

The move comes as the North Carolina-based ACC — which includes UNC and NC State and private schools Duke and Wake Forest — is falling behind other athletic leagues in media rights revenue. The SEC and Big Ten have stockpiled the biggest brands in college football and some of the ACC's top teams are seeking refuge in one of those leagues.

The consolidation of programs into other leagues will leave the Pac-12 with just two members.

UNC and NC State, who have been in the same athletic conference since the founding of the Southern Conference in 1921, are charter members of the ACC, which was founded in 1953 in Greensboro.

The ACC is now headquartered in Charlotte and hosts many of its championship events in North Carolina, including its annual football championship game in Charlotte. State lawmakers approved $15 million in incentives for the league in an effort to keep its headquarters in the state.

The Tar Heels, in particular, are seen as a top expansion candidate for both the SEC and the Midwest-based Big Ten, which soon will have schools in California, Washington, Oregon as well as New Jersey and Maryland.

If UNC were to leave the league — likely as part of a larger exodus — it could have huge ramifications on the athletic revenue of NC State. Football power Florida State has sued the ACC, seeking to exit the league without paying enormous financial penalties.

Athletic leaders at both schools declined comment on the board's proposed changes.

The proposed process

Under those changes to the intercollegiate athletics section of the UNC System's policy manual, chancellors must give the UNC System president "advance notice prior to executing any agreement which would result in the constituent institution’s transfer, removal, or joining of an athletic conference association. The notice to the president shall include for the president’s approval or disapproval a financial plan related to the proposed action."

If the president approves the financial plan, the board would then get a chance to weigh in and could vote no, stopping any conference affiliation change.

"If the Board of Governors votes down the financial plan, the chancellor may not proceed with the proposed action unless the chancellor presents a new financial plan for the president’s approval or disapproval," according to the proposal.

Financial plan is meant as a broad term, the UNC System's general counsel said Wednesday.

"It would be as encompassing related to the funding of the change as the board might deem to exercise in its discretion," said Andrew Tripp, a senior vice president and general counsel for the system.

A previous version of proposed change, which WRAL reported on in October, gave the board and president more oversight but not veto power of conference moves.

The Board of Governors has 24 members, appointed by the NC House and Senate to staggered four-year terms. Both chambers have been controlled by Republicans since 2011. The Republican leaders of each chambers told WRAL in August that UNC and NC State should remain conference foes.

There are 16 public schools in the UNC System, including App State, East Carolina and Charlotte. Those three schools, which play in the FBS, have changed conferences since 2014. Peter Hans is the president of the UNC System.