The ACC won’t be splitting with ESPN anytime soon.
Commissioner John Swofford said Thursday the ACC Network will launch in August 2019 as part of an extended media deal with ESPN that now runs through the 2035-36 season.
– It would stand to reason that if the ACC added ND and another school, then that would effectively render the current deal with ESPN as invalid and open up another round of negotiation. Of course that crazy future viewing rights thing may cover ESPN, but I doubt that would stand up in court.
I don’t think that this is true. The past ACC expansions have resulted in new media deals, but the reports I saw made it sound like the possibility of expansion was always included in the existing contract.
– The key for the ACC would be to get the per member payout up. I’m not convinced these mega-leagues have been great for per school revenue. That would have to be the focus.
Every new deal that I’ve read about has increased the per-school payout. While it’s obvious that this is what schools would want, it also makes sense for the networks. More power schools in “your” conference increases the odds of having a national “power” team under contract (as long as you’re sure that the conference isn’t going to add an ECU to the conference.)
