Impact Report: Atlantic Coast Conference

Wake Forest Nears the Halfway Point of Phase One of The Grounds

Sports Business Journal

Wake Forest is nearing the halfway point of the first phase of its 100-acre sports-adjacent mixed-use real estate project, The Grounds. Development partners Carter and Front Street Capital will operate a retail village on a ground lease from the university, which currently attracts 1.1M annual visitors to its athletics complex encompassing the football stadium, arena, baseball stadium, and tennis center, according to SBJ’s Bret McCormick, who notes the initial phase features a five-story office building for university employees, an apartment complex and a revitalized Silas Creek greenway. Deacs’ AD John Currie on the primary goal driving the project: “Let’s figure out how we can serve our community better and how we can serve the university better and how we can create jobs and how we can create tax revenue for the community and how we can create a better place for people to go and quality of life and attraction. And so money results from all that, but the ‘why’ part is not just for money. I’m as capitalist as anybody, but the ‘why’ part is really how do we serve our community better?” The article includes updated photos and video of the progress in Winston-Salem.

Why Florida Is at the Center of the Fight Holding Up the Protect College Sports Act

Yahoo Sports

In the latest Protect College Sports Act developments, New York Yankees President/College Sports Council member Randy Levine, who is leading executive branch congressional efforts regarding the legislation for President Donald Trump, has strongly encouraged Republican Florida Sens. Ashley Moody and Rick Scott to support the bill as their constituent schools “have nowhere else to go,” with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti having publicly confirmed they are satisfied with their current membership. On Thursday, the senators voted against the second of three procedural motions with two of their most prominent state universities (Florida State and Miami FL) having raised issues with the legislation. Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger: “Officials from at least five ACC schools — Clemson, North Carolina and Stanford, too — have expressed concerns to lawmakers over the provision.” It could also pose a problem in the House of Representatives, where states such as Florida, California and North and South Carolina hold more than 100 delegates. One Congressional official added: “The schools are already working their House members against it.”

UNC Leaders Defend the Football Investigation and Remain Supportive of Bill Belichick

WRAL News

During today’s UNC Board of Trustees meeting, North Carolina leaders defended their seven-week investigation into the Tar Heels’ football program and remained supportive of HC Bill Belichick despite the recent resignations of GM Michael Lombardi and DC Steve Belichick, per WRAL News’ Brian Murphy. Chancellor Lee Roberts: “[Coach Belichick] understands that that support comes with expectations around conduct and behavior. Nobody understands that better than Coach Belichick.” More…

➤ Roberts cites the outside investigation as a voluntary and proactive effort to ensure that the football program’s culture was sound: “We're disappointed that we're talking about this. Nobody made us do an investigation. Nobody made us hire an external firm. Nobody made us reveal the existence of an investigation, but we did it because we care about the conduct standards of the football program, and we're continuing to put in place policies and training and monitoring to make sure that the standards we expect of the football program are being adhered to.”

➤ Heels AD Steve Newmark said investigators were clear that the conduct found wasn’t pervasive, weren’t related and were often unconnected, while also stating that corrective actions were being implemented, including training, monitoring and reinforcement of policies. “We believe there were serious allegations and serious conduct that we needed to address, but we didn’t find that it was program-wide. … It’s my responsibility to ensure that we set expectations and create a culture of accountability for all our programs, including football. Out of this investigation, we feel like there were significant outcomes. The initial ones were the change in leadership position for two of our senior coaches in the football program.”

Here’s the Latest on the Protect College Sports Act

Senate Press Gallery, Front Office Sports, Yahoo Sports & Congress.gov

➤ From the Senate Press Gallery: “By a vote of 70-21, the Senate invoked cloture on the Cruz-Cantwell substitute amendment #6776, to S. 4668. Senators not voting: Cassidy, Coons, Gallego, Kim, Murphy, Schatz, Tillis, Tuberville, and Whitehouse. Senators voting no: Alsobrooks, Blumenthal, Blunt Rochester, Booker, Duckworth, Durbin, Gillibrand, Kaine, Kelly, Markey, Merkley, Moody (R), Paul (R), Reed, Sanders, Schiff, Schumer, Scott-FL (R), Van Hollen, Warnock, and Warren.”

➤ Front Office Sports’ Amanda Christovich notes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) flipped his note from yes to no on advancing the bill.

➤ From Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger: “Sen. Maria Cantwell, speaking on the US Senate floor, says more than 35 amendments have been filed on the Protect College Sports Act and lawmakers will “continue to work with our colleagues on” possible revisions. The third procedural vote on the PCSA is expected soon. … Earlier today, Senate leaders sent to Republicans a request for unanimous consent to expedite a final vote on the PCSA and bypass procedural steps/time constraints. It failed (expected). There will likely be more attempts made over the coming days to bypass the constraints. Changes made last week to bill language (expansion provision, etc.) come with additional procedural voting steps, extending the timeline for a final vote to the end of this week (when most expect it) or even early next week. Without consent to waive procedural steps/time constraints, a (1) mandatory 30-hour wait follows [last night’s] vote; then (2) there is another procedural vote; then (3) a vote on cloture of the bill; then (4) more mandatory wait time; and then (5) a final vote. Brace yourselves.”

➤ Here is a full list of the proposed amendments. There are now 36 in all.

Trbine Pitches Athletic Departments a “Revenue-Based Security” Alternative to Private Equity

Sports Business Journal

Trbine is pitching top athletic departments on a “revenue-based security” model designed to raise large sums of capital at a lower cost than traditional private equity, per SBJ’s Chris Smith. Here’s the breakdown…

➤ Developed as an interest-only bond underwritten by major banks, it allows athletic departments to leverage their university’s high credit ratings to trade a set percentage of future top-line athletic income for upfront capital at a 4.5% to 8.5% cost of capital.

➤ Hypothetically, a school such as Ohio State could raise $500M through Trbine’s offering in exchange for 5% of its $336M annual revenue, or around $17M. That total would be paid annually to security holders and if the athletic department’s revenue increases, so does the payout.

➤ Trbine Founder/CEO George O’Conor and adviser/investor Gordon Whitener reportedly have active term sheets in front of roughly 25 of what they deem the “top 54 athletic departments” in the country with hopes of having the first deals in place before the end of the year.

➤ O’Conor: “It’s borrowing money. It’s a bridge. And if you still want to sell part of your thing in seven years when you know what you’re selling, consider it then. ... What we have works for all business segments all over the world. It wasn’t built for sports. It just happens to be really good for college sports. … Why would you pay [a private equity firm] 22% a year or 15% a year when you can get money at 4.5% a year?”

Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek on the Board of Trustees Resolution

ESPN via @HitThatLineAR & Best of Arkansas Sports

Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek to ESPN’s Taylor McGregor prior to yesterday’s football game responds to the resolution by the Arkansas Board of Trustees to review the state of competitiveness of Razorback athletics: “I don’t have any because I have yet to talk to the board of trustees or the president about what this statement means.” (link); Hogs Football HC Ryan Silverfield earlier this week in a radio interview: “When I got here, the salary — I hate to say that, I shouldn’t say that — but the amount of money for the 2026 roster was already set. It is what it is, and there was no changing that. Some of these schools will say, ‘Okay, hey, we’ll keep raising the money for this roster even though we spent money we didn’t have.’ Whereas we say, ‘Okay, here’s the money you have set aside and that’s what you have.”

Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek on the Board of Trustees Resolution

ESPN via @HitThatLineAR & Best of Arkansas Sports

Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek to ESPN’s Taylor McGregor prior to yesterday’s football game responds to the resolution by the Arkansas Board of Trustees to review the state of competitiveness of Razorback athletics: “I don’t have any because I have yet to talk to the board of trustees or the president about what this statement means.” (link); Hogs Football HC Ryan Silverfield earlier this week in a radio interview: “When I got here, the salary — I hate to say that, I shouldn’t say that — but the amount of money for the 2026 roster was already set. It is what it is, and there was no changing that. Some of these schools will say, ‘Okay, hey, we’ll keep raising the money for this roster even though we spent money we didn’t have.’ Whereas we say, ‘Okay, here’s the money you have set aside and that’s what you have.”

Paramount Settles With State AGs, Clearing Its $81B Warner Bros. Discovery Merger

The Wall Street Journal

Paramount has reportedly reached a settlement with a coalition of state attorneys general to clear the final regulatory hurdle for its $81B merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, per The Wall Street Journal’s Jessica Toonkel and Paul Kiernan. The agreement would resolve the antitrust lawsuit led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other states, avoiding a trial and sparing the media company from paying Warner shareholders roughly $650M quarterly in “ticking fees” if the transaction failed to close by Oct. 1. Under Paramount CEO David Ellison, the combined media conglomerate will unite live sports broadcasting channels, primary streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max, broadcasting assets including CNN, Cartoon Network and more without being forced to sell off cable networks. (link); Here’s the list of sports media assets that will live under the new Paramount umbrella.

John Calipari Voices His Support for Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek

Southwest Times Record — published Sept 17, before this report’s window

Meanwhile, Arkansas Men’s Basketball HC John Calipari voiced his support for Razorbacks AD Hunter Yurachek, remarking that “Hunter's been a great partner and given us tools to go out and get the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, and our postseason success has been there because of his support. … [Yurachek] has also had to make some tough decisions, like reseating, which has generated more revenue so we can participate in revenue sharing at the highest level. With these type of decisions, Hunter has been unbelievable in making sure this university and athletic department is stable moving forward.”