CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jim Phillips, who has served as Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) commissioner since spring 2021, is focusing on increasing league revenue through corporate sponsorships to address financial challenges despite record yearly earnings.

The ACC reported approximately $826.5 million in total revenue for the 2024-25 sports season, with schools receiving an average distribution of $47.1 million. Phillips announced during the league’s annual forum on Wednesday, July 15th, 2026, that the ACC is expected to surpass $900 million in total revenue for the 2025-26 season.

Phillips highlighted the reality of financial pressures in college sports, especially as schools now have the ability to pay athletes directly. The ACC faces a significant revenue gap compared to the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference, which has been a particular focus since Phillips took office.

Corporate sponsorships are seen as a vital supplement to media rights payouts and postseason earnings. For example, the Big 12 recently announced a multiyear partnership with beverage brand Monster Energy, with schools averaging $11.2 million in revenue, compared to about $9.7 million per school in the ACC.

“There’s not a lot of places where you can go to an AD and say, ‘Look I think we could potentially generate $5-10-20 million annually if we think differently about this side of the business and we can control it,’” said Lynch, emphasizing the untapped potential in corporate partnerships. “So it becomes a really intriguing space to look and say if we invest there, we could potentially extract a lot of dollars and generate a lot that we weren’t doing before.”

Phillips acknowledged the challenges but stressed the importance of adapting to the evolving financial landscape in college athletics.

Sources