The ACC has never been good at PR. They’ve often let realignment and conference perception stories get out ahead of them, only to play catchup later.
John Swofford had the moniker “the Ninja” commissioner, and the ACC’s current state of affairs lies with him. That’s how it is at the top.
Jim Phillips has taken over in the last year and has a lot of work ahead of him to increase ACC revenues. A month ago Philips was widely criticized for his messaging at ACC Media days. I had fewer issues with it, but a month later the conference is still dealing with vague statements regarding increasing revenue and hiring media consultants.
Prior to today’s announcement, FishBait has participated in a number of introductory meetings including a presentation to the league’s Athletic Directors. Over the coming weeks, FishBait will have individual in-person meetings with each of the league’s 15 member schools and their respective leadership teams.
Why aren’t some of these plans being released publicly? I get there could be some sensitive information, but certainly not all. What’s happening with the negotiations with ESPN? I can’t believe there has been no change whatsoever in the last month.
While various commissioners have made specific comments about potential plans, where is Jim Phillips?
Nobody cares how concrete these plans are, fans and boosters just want to hear something is in the works.
These days silence is not seen as a sign of working behind the scenes, it’s perceived as a sign of relative inactivity.
That is not going to work in 2022.
Realignment is more cutthroat than ever before and has in part become a PR game.
Phillips would do well to make some statements soon. If I were him, I’d be doing this regularly.
You have the ACC Network. Use it to make a monthly state of the ACC, use anything to get the word out.
Staying silent isn’t and won’t work going forward.
