Documents reveal UNC’s conference realignment approach: A code name, ACC ‘in financial decline’
UNC’s behind-closed-doors exploration of conference realignment and its future in the ACC was known by only a code name.
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For more than two years, North Carolina has secretly sunk more than $600,000 into legal bills for a project that, according to documents recently obtained by The Athletic, was known by only a code name: the Carolina Blue matter.
But a code name for what, exactly?
For UNC’s behind-closed-doors exploration of conference realignment and its future in the ACC, according to two senior school officials briefed on the matter.
Duckett wrote that Tar Heels officials needed to “work together to protect UNC financially and with regard to our reputation.” The focus, Duckett wrote, should be on improving UNC’s finances without private equity — the school had preliminary discussions with multiple firms, according to documents obtained by The Athletic, before opting not to proceed — and asking the league for transparency instead of an “us versus the ACC” squabble.
Preyer responded: “I firmly believe that ‘protecting UNC financially’ requires us to explore every available avenue to depart a conference that is in financial decline and is primarily serving its bottom tier schools. While Carolina once led the ACC, that time is long gone. The current Commissioner is not serving our best interests and simply ‘asking’ for transparency will not get us anywhere but would be a welcome change.”
Preyer added, regarding a potential nine-figure fee required to leave the ACC, that he had, “no desire to disagree with our own team — particularly in public — but no one should not be making statements that quantify the exit cost at $600-700M. That perception only hurts us.”
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