ACC Will Require Injury Reports for Football and Basketball

The ACC will now require schools to provide injury reports for football, basketball and baseball games prior to each conference game. The conference will also fine schools for storming the field or the court after a game.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips made the announcements on Tuesday as part of the ACC football media days.

Teams will be required to reveal injury reports, technically called availability reports, two days before a game, and will need to update them up one day before the game.

In the past many football coaches provided injury reports to the media, but some did not, and there was no designated day to provide injury reports.

Cal football coach Justin Wilcox typically provided injury updates during his Tuesday media availability each game week, but he did not provide any updates later in the week. Now the Bears will have to provide injury updates on the Thursday before a Saturday game and update as needed.

Player status became an issue for Cal last season with running back Jaydn Ott, whose ankle injury made his availability uncertain for a number of weeks. Wilcox would provide what he knew of Ott’s status on Tuesday, but information provided two days later would give the public a better understanding of whether Ott was likely to play on Saturday.

“In the sports of football, men’s and women’s basketball, as well as baseball,” Phillips said. “The ACC will implement a player availability reporting policy for each conference game. In football, an institution will submit an availability report two days before each league game with updates one day before and on gameday. All submitted reports will be publicly available on TheACC.com.”

The increase in sports gambling and the pressure it puts on athletes are cited as the reasons for the new mandate.

“This decision is directly connected to our ongoing commitment to best protect our student-athletes,” Phillips said. “And our multi-faceted approach to addressing the effects of sports wagering. 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. Safety has always been taken seriously by this league, and I applaud our schools for further enhancing and formalizing these important measures."

The other noteworthy announcement was regarding penalties for storming the field or the court after games. Schools will be fined $50,000 for the first offense, $100,000 for the second offense and $200,000 on the third offense for football or basketball during the 2025-26 school year. There will be a two-year time span for multiple violations.

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