ACC Network to Launch by 2019

The long-awaited ACC Network will launch by August 2019, with the Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN agreeing to a 20-year deal and rights extension through the 2035-36 academic year…

The ACC’s new grant of rights also automatically extends Notre Dame’s contract with the conference as a member in all sports but football through 2035-36, a source said. If the Irish forgo football independence in the next 20 years, they are contracted to join the ACC…

“When the ACC Network revenues are included, the ACC will be very competitive with the upper tier [Big Ten and SEC] of the Power 5 leagues,” a source said…

ESPN Article

…The Big 12 spent all summer discussing future expansion and wondering about the prospects for its own television network.

Now the conference is talking about expansion again — Oklahoma president David Boren said as a direct result of the ACC’s network news. Any thought about trying to poach an ACC team is not based in reality.

If Florida State or any other team considered leaving over the next 20 years, it would have to pay the ACC a $50 million exit fee plus leave behind its television rights until the grant of rights expires. That’s a whole lot of cash to leave on the table to join a league that looks the most unstable and most unsecure among the Power 5 conferences.

2nd ESPN Article

Please link any interesting articles in the comments

About VaWolf82

Engineer living in Central Va. and senior curmudgeon amongst SFN authors One wife, two kids, one dog, four vehicles on insurance, and four phones on cell plan...looking forward to empty nest status. Graduated 1982

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Home Forums ACC Network to Launch by 2019

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  • #104984
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    The long-awaited ACC Network will launch by August 2019, with the Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN agreeing to a 20-year deal and rights extension t
    [See the full post at: ACC Network to Launch by 2019]

    #104985
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    A poster on PP says that the BB schedule will increase to 20 games when the ACC Network forms. I couldn’t confirm that with a 20 second google search.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2016/07/21/acc-commissioner-john-swofford-acc-kickoff/87380704/

    ACC commissioner John Swofford announced Thursday at the ACC Kickoff that the league will move from 18 to 20 conference men’s basketball games once the new ESPN-backed ACC Network launches in 2019.

    The additional men’s basketball games will provide more high-profile program inventory for the new network, which is expected to broadcast 450 live events, including 40 football games, 100 men’s and women’s basketball games and 250 other live events in 2019.

    #104991
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    gopack article

    http://www.gopack.com/news/2016/7/21/general-acc-network-set-to-launch-in-2019.aspx

    Beginning in August 2016, fans can access more than 600 exclusive live events from across the conference via a digital live-events channel ‘ACC Network Extra’, immediately available to users who have access to ESPN3 via WatchESPN and the ESPN app, with that number growing each year. More than 1,300 ACC events will be distributed across the platforms in 2019 when the linear network launches…

    The linear network will feature 450 exclusive live events including 40 regular-season football games, more than 150 men’s and women’s basketball games, more than 200 other regular-season contests and tournament games from across the conference’s 27-sponsored sports, plus a complement of news and information shows and original programming. ESPN has been televising ACC content since 1979 and has exclusive rights to every conference-controlled football and men’s basketball game, plus women’s basketball and conference sports matchups, as well as all ACC championship events.

    #104992
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    A 20 game schedule will break down like this:

    2 Defined rivalries (UNC/WF) x 2 games = 4 games
    4 Home/Home matchups = 8 games
    8 x 1 game only = 8 games.

    This totals to 14 opponents and 20 games. They could do away with the defined rivalries, but I doubt that they will.

    I would expect that this would move 2 to 3 conference games from each team into Nov/Dec….hopefully Dec. It will be interesting to see if the ACC network has any noticeable impact on the quality of the OOC schedules (I’m looking at you, Clemson and VT).

    #104995
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    File this under “better late than never.” Of course, with Swoffy’s gang still around, we need this much lead time due to the inevitable foot shooting.

    #104996
    Tau837
    Participant

    A 20 game schedule will break down like this:

    2 Defined rivalries (UNC/WF) x 2 games = 4 games
    4 Home/Home matchups = 8 games
    8 x 1 game only = 8 games.

    This totals to 14 opponents and 20 games. They could do away with the defined rivalries, but I doubt that they will.

    I would expect that this would move 2 to 3 conference games from each team into Nov/Dec….hopefully Dec. It will be interesting to see if the ACC network has any noticeable impact on the quality of the OOC schedules (I’m looking at you, Clemson and VT).

    This sets up perfectly for 3 divisions of 5 teams. Play every team in your division twice and every team out of division once.
    Divisions:

    South – FSU, Miami, GT, Clemson, WF
    Central – State, UNC, Duke, UVA, VT
    North – ND, BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville

    Not ideal to split WF from the Big 4, but the alternative is to split UVA and VT. I assume this won’t happen because it would create imbalance in basketball, i.e., the Central division would have more elite teams, and it would screw up ACC tournament seeding.

    #104997
    Tau837
    Participant

    Um, yeah, with coffee, I now realize that would only be 18 games… never mind.

    #105001
    ryebread
    Participant

    My thoughts:
    1) No one is leaving any time soon. It’s not worth it unless the move is from one ESPN conference to another (i.e. ACC to SEC).
    2) ND isn’t joining for football any time soon. If this couldn’t bring them in the fold fully, then they won’t be doing it voluntarily. They’ll continue to have their cake and eat it too.
    3) ESPN would be very wise to break the app out separately from bundled service tied to legacy cords. Maybe they’ve already done so. This is about the only content that I’d pay to see on TV, but I wouldn’t pay much. I imagine there are many cord cutters like me out there.
    4) We’ll see Raycom phased out, which we’ll miss when there’s no “free” OTA content.

    I was really hoping the ACC would renegotiate with NBC or Fox. I think we’ll always play second fiddle to the SEC on ESPN.

    #105040
    13OT
    Participant

    ND will NEVER join ACC football. They realize they can have their cake and eat it too.

    #105045
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    Nope, they will join a better conference once the money is right. They’ve realized they can wipe their ass with us in the interim, for as long as need be.

    #105051
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    ND will NEVER join ACC football.

    As long as NBC (or some other network) pays for ND football AND there are suckers willing to support the other sports, they would be stupid to join a conference.

    It would be interesting to compare media contracts from the major conferences and see how ND’s total take (NBC+ACC) compares to those schools in conferences. If the payouts to the Big 10 schools ever matched ND’s total, then that would be ample reason for ND to join a conference.

    #105063
    LRM
    Keymaster

    Va makes an interesting point. No one really knows what ND’s NBC contract is worth, but you could be certain that ESPN would gladly renegotiate the ACCN deal with ND as a full member (or Fox/ESPN if the B1G or XII somehow got ND). At least for now, it seems NBC still has the upper hand. And there has to be some inherent non-financial value to ND to retain as much control over their schedule as they can.

    I do think ND joining the ACC would forever kill the potential for the 9-game league schedule.

    #105087
    13OT
    Participant

    Notre Dame not joining the ACC HAS forever killed the potential for the 9-game league schedule.

    #105097
    LRM
    Keymaster

    I still think we’re headed towards four 16-team super conferences, or even some sort of single super league. Whatever the XII decides, it will be shaky compared to the other power conferences (no less shaky than it’s been since Texas A&M, Colorado and Missouri left).

    #105099
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    (no less shaky than it’s been since Texas A&M, Colorado and Missouri left).

    Also lost Nebraska (added WVU and TCU to get to 10 teams). ESPN basically saved the conference by agreeing to honor their agreed total contract value even though there were fewer teams. This upped every schools take-home pay and stabilized the conference.

    It appears (from way outside) that they think that there schools are getting short-changed in the playoff hunt by not having a championship game. I’m not convinced that this is actually the case. But they didn’t ask my advice.

    A 4×16 consolidation might happen, but it doesn’t appear likely to happen anytime soon. Even less likely than ND joining a conference: From 2013:

    NBC Sports Group announced a 10-year contract extension to televise Notre Dame football games Thursday, doubling the length of its previous agreement.

    NBC and Notre Dame said the extension would begin in 2016 and run through the 2025 season. The contract, reportedly worth $15 million annually for football, had never run for more than five years.

    http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9186897/nbc-extends-notre-dame-fighting-irish-football-deal-2025

    #105100
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    Talk about ND made me wonder about how much money do they get from the ACC. The answer appears to be not much:

    The Irish will keep all the money it makes from its independent television deal with NBC while the ACC will keep all football-related money generated by its contract with ESPN/ABC. That comes to about 80 percent of the league’s total television revenue. As an equal partner in all other sports, Notre Dame will get the same split of the rest of the money as everyone else in the league – or 1/15th of 20 percent.

    http://acc.blogs.starnewsonline.com/31880/answering-some-faqs-about-accs-addition-of-notre-dame/

    I’m assuming that ND would keep the money from any bowl game as well.

    #105101
    LRM
    Keymaster

    Wow, I inexplicably forgot all about Nebraska.

    Bowen’s 180 last week on XII expansion was…odd. Especially considering the semi-stability of a 10-team league. This isn’t the SEC and Pac courting Texas and Oklahoma in 2010. Baylor and TCU were snubbed by the CFP in 2014 because they both had one decent win — adding Cincinati and Houston and then not playing (or losing to) Oklahoma and Oklahoma State because they’re opposite division doesn’t really solve that problem.

    #105102
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    Sorry for the haphazard posting, but here’s some projections for PAC12, Big 10, and SEC TV revenue:

    So if you’re scoring at home, we have these projections for TV-related revenue for 2017-18, on a per-school basis:

    SEC: $35.6 million
    Big Ten: $33 million
    Pac-12: $22.95 million

    The article breaks down how they came up with those totals

    The Pac-12’s financial future: Comparing TV revenue to the SEC and Big Ten

    And the ACC falls in last place:

    CBSSports.com’s Jon Solomon and the San Jose Mercury News’ Jon Wilner excel at gathering and assessing data from the power conferences, and according to their reporting on the other four, the ACC’s average $19.3 million distribution to full members in 2013-14 lagged far behind the Big Ten ($26.4 million) and slightly below the Pacific 12 ($21 million), SEC ($20.9 million) and Big 12 ($19.8 million).

    The contrasts could be more jarring in 2014-15, and beyond.

    http://www.dailypress.com/sports/teel-blog/dp-teel-time-acc-tax-return-1314-post.html

    This last article also says that ND got $4.9M from the ACC in its first year. Based on those figures, it doesn’t look like the NBC contract is actually giving a win-fall to ND. $15M (NBC) + $5M (ACC) would tend to make you think that ND should have joined the B10 as a full member.

    #105106
    LRM
    Keymaster

    In regards to ND joining the B1G as a full member: I wouldn’t rule anything out anymore.

    Consider the only reason Texas isn’t in the Pac or SEC now is because of the LHN.

    #105225
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    Saw this article linked at PP.

    http://collegespun.com/acc/syracuse/fs1s-tim-brando-notre-dame-will-eventually-join-acc-football-is-key-to-conference-launching-network

    With the huge difference between B10 and ACC payout, I just can’t see them joining the ACC for football. But I’m just looking at the financial end (what we know of the financial end) and I’m not sure how much that would impact ND’s decision. The latest report posted at the Equity in Athletics site shows ND’s athletic revenue exceeding expenses by $21M.

    #105236
    LRM
    Keymaster

    ND also has around $9 million annually from Under Armour. Any idea how their partial membership affects their ACC licensing fees?

    I don’t think ACC members share merchandising revenues — Va, do you know for sure?

    #105241
    mak4dpak
    Participant

    New network! Okay! Is there no new news in Wolfpack land. Summer basketball with next years players? Upcoming football season? Anything? Overdue for some, as I check often.

    #105248
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    I don’t think ACC members share merchandising revenues — Va, do you know for sure?

    I don’t think that they share merchandising. A quick google search didn’t find anything “for sure”, but this little blurb seems to confirm our suspicions:

    The ACC’s distributions to members do not include individual schools’ multi-media and licensing arrangements with firms such as IMG and Learfield Sports.

    http://www.dailypress.com/sports/teel-blog/dp-teel-time-acc-revenue-1314-post.html

    That article also includes something that I did not know:

    Nor do the distributions listed on the tax return include money from a championship pool of approximately $8 million that the conference awards to schools based on their teams’ success.

    #105367
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    According to the Daily Press, the ACC can either increase its [football] conference schedule from eight games to nine games per season, while continuing to schedule one Power Five nonconference game per season, or it could keep the conference schedule at eight games and schedule two Power Five nonconference games per season

    http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/acc-reportedly-receives-mandate-to-change-its-football-scheduling/

    Longer article that CBS quoted from:
    http://www.dailypress.com/sports/teel-blog/dp-teel-time-acc-nine-vote-post.html

    With commissioner John Swofford, ACC athletic directors will convene via conference call at 9 a.m. Friday to deliberate, and perhaps approve, one of two options provided by ESPN: expand the league schedule from eight to nine games, while continuing to play at least one outside Power Five opponent annually; or, remain at eight conference games and play at least two nonleague Power Fives each season.

    The ADs could deadlock and/or delay their decision Friday, but status quo is about to vanish.

    —————EDIT

    I would prefer a 9th conference game. Playing some teams twice per decade just sucks.

    If the ND rotation needs to be laid out far enough into the future that it can be used as the required P-5 OOC game..if the schools want to use it that way. I’m sure that at least some schools will want to limit the P-5 OOC games so that they can maximize the number of home games, ie $$$$$$.

    #105441
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    No decision on ACC FB schedule yet. But they need to do decide by the end of the year.

    http://www.espn.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/93618/could-virginia-tech-pitt-be-the-key-to-acc-schedule-change

    The article references schools with outstanding P-5 opponents already scheduled (like Duke and Louisville) opposed to 9 conference games plus a random ND game here and there. This is BS, because those P-5 games can be moved to years when they don’t play ND (reference State’s home/home series with L’Ville that took a decade to finish). Get ND’s rotation nailed down for a decade or more, then work out your schedule. 9 ACC games, +ND/P-5 opponent and that leaves you with two potential cupcake games each year….WHICH IS ALL YOU’RE GOING TO BE LEFT WITH ANYWAY. 8+2 or 9+1 is going to only leave 2 FCS spots no matter which way they go.

    The only logical reason for opposing 9 conference games are from those schools that already have an annual OOC rivalry game….GT-UGA, FSU-UF, Clemson-Usc (any others?). In the years these schools play ND, their schedule would be 9 ACC games, ND, SEC rivlary game, and only one chance for an FCS game. But the claim that the schedule would be too tough ignores the likelihood of having multiple cupcake games within the ACC schedule. With Clemson, FSU, and L’ville being near the tops in the conference, GT would have a little more room to bitch since more ACC games would give them more chances at those three teams. FSU/Clemson have much less reason to bitch (at least for now).

    Side Issue….with the ESPN contract requiring P-5 opponents, the ACC schools need to get harsher wording into the contract with OOC opponents. A cancellation would be hard to fill on short notice.

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