CHARLOTTE – At this week’s ACC Media Kickoff, Commissioner Jim Phillips introduced a new policy for the upcoming season regarding player availability during the Commissioner’s Forum.

Starting for the 2025 season, all teams in the ACC will be required to submit a “player availability report” for each conference game. 

“This decision is directly connected to our ongoing commitment to best protect our student-athletes and our multi-faceted approach to addressing the effects of sports wagering,” Phillips said.

For in-conference football games, schools will be required to submit an availability report two days prior to each contest, with updates provided one day before and two hours before kickoff. In addition, basketball and baseball games will require reports one day before the game and two hours before tip-off or first pitch.

“In this case, it would alleviate pressure from entities or individuals who are involved in sports wagering that attempt to obtain inside information about availability from players, coaches, and other staff,” Phillips said. “Safety has always been taken seriously by this league, and I applaud our schools for further enhancing and formalizing these important measures.”

A fine policy has not been determined yet, but Phillips hopes “to think that people are going to do what they’re asked to do, and we hope that it wouldn’t come down to that.” All reports that are submitted by schools will be publicly available on theACC.com, which makes it simple for fans and spectators to know who is available and who is not.

After informing the coaches, Commissioner Phillips admitted the importance of the policy while acknowledging the stubbornness of many coaches.

“Coaches are hard to change, but when we told them that we were doing it, no one said anything on the call. I don’t know what that meant, other than they were accepting it,” Phillips said. “It’s the right thing. I understand that every coach has to do what they have to do in order to get their team ready, and there’s always gamesmanship, always.”

–photo by Jim Dedmon / Imagn Images