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ACC panel will study whether to launch network

  • The ACC has formed a committee of athletic directors and hired Wasserman Media Group to explore the financial benefits of launching its own conference network.

    While its media rights are tied up with ESPN for the next 15 years, that hasn’t stopped the conference from beginning the process of deciding whether such a channel is feasible. It hasn’t had formal talks with ESPN, which would have to play a big role in any ACC channel since the network controls the league’s rights.

    But ACC Commissioner John Swofford has quietly been exploring a branded channel and began floating the idea for it in the fall, around the time that Notre Dame joined the league in all sports but football. The Fighting Irish have committed to play five ACC opponents in football each season, but it will maintain its independence.

    For the ACC, it potentially could allow the conference to keep up financially with the Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC, which have all launched or are close to launching branded channels, and sources say the conference sees it as an enticement to keep schools from being seduced by other conferences.

    ACC panel will study whether to launch net - SportsBusiness Daily | SportsBusiness Journal | SportsBusiness Daily Global

    The ACC has formed a committee of athletic directors and hired Wasserman Media Group to explore the financial benefits of launching its own conference network. While its media rights are tied up with ESPN for the next 15 years, that hasnt stopped the conference from beginning the process of d

    www.sportsbusinessdaily.com

    Chris Nee of 247Sports.com. You can follow me on twitter @CNee247.

    Chris Nee

  • I still want out

    valenoles

  • I'm for anything that helps.

    fsukum

  • Me too. Anything that makes this crappy conference better is a good deal.

    signature image

    "Some people think football is a matter of life and death, I assure you, it is much more serious than that."

    crozea55

  • gonoles1

  • let's leave or improve.

    napoleon

  • Let's have a craptacular ACC channel. Who would watch that pathetic nonsense? Jealous Big East fans?

    Legio mihi nomen est, quia multi sumu [My name is Legion, for we are many.]

    Cuthbert

  • Possible shows?

    CSI: Miami Hurricanes
    According to Jimbo
    NCiState
    Deadliest Hits (a show detailing the illegal hits against FSU)

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    LilburnNole

  • Swofford has already negotiated all tier three rights away for the next 15 years. There is nothing left for the ACC to do anything with.

    DaddyO

  • Desperate attempt to placate schools looking elsewhere. The deal with ESPN makes this completely nonviable.

    FluffyBunny

  • Desperate or not, if they can find away to generate more revenue and work with lawyers and ESPN to develop a plan for an ACC Network, then fine by me. If we're stuck in this conference, we might as well seek improvements in our contract.

    fsukum

  • DaddyO said...

    Swofford has already negotiated all tier three rights away for the next 15 years. There is nothing left for the ACC to do anything with.

    Hard to state that without having read the contract and/or being a lawyer. Adding new teams may allow for renegotiation of the contract.

    fsukum

  • There are some inherent demographic advantages with this league but the product is so poor no one would watch for football. Fort being the best hope for football exposure & credibility..they don't treat us very well. I really hope we can get out.

    sterling9000

  • Pathetic PR move by the ACC to try and pretend that they are similar to the Big 10/SEC.

    What is funny is the ACC waited until after signing away all their rights and AFTER Maryland left to look into this. Way too little....way to late.

    ACC loses more members in the next two years IMHO. Warchant will implode when that happens.

    55Nole

  • sterling9000 said...

    There are some inherent demographic advantages with this league but the product is so poor no one would watch for football. Fort being the best hope for football exposure & credibility..they don't treat us very well. I really hope we can get out.

    ACC actually gets some of the better ratings of the major conferences not named SEC. And "product" clearly hasn't been what drives expansion. It's markets. Product on the field doesn't mean crap.

    Jmnpb996

  • Jmnpb996 said...

    ACC actually gets some of the better ratings of the major conferences not named SEC. And "product" clearly hasn't been what drives expansion. It's markets. Product on the field doesn't mean crap.

    ACC has very good ratings......which makes the 15 year HORRIBLE contract Swofford signed all the more baffling.

    It is an anchor on the conference. Maryland left, it won't get better.

    55Nole

  • 55Nole said...

    ACC has very good ratings......which makes the 15 year HORRIBLE contract Swofford signed all the more baffling.

    It is an anchor on the conference. Maryland left, it won't get better.

    This I agree with - they locked themselves into an awful contract, with no look ins and just one network, who gets all inventory and effectively owns the ACC

    Jmnpb996

  • Too little, too late. In my mind, outside of maybe the SEC, it probably makes more sense for the ACC to have a network over a lot of the other conferences. The ACC is a conference that spans the east coast and is in the most populated areas in the country. While the football product may not be in as high demand as some other conferences (though ratings would show it's not too far off), it has a broader range of products to offer than virtually any other group of schools. Basketball is second to none historically, and it is the dominant conference for two of the fastest growing sports in the country (both in terms of participation and viewership) - lacrosse and soccer. In addition, it offers some of the best baseball in the country. Heck it can even offer Boston College hockey! So, for 12 days a year, it might not be top dog, but for the all the other sports, it is.

    That's not to say that the viewership demand is as high as the "olympic" sports, but it definitely offers more than probably any other conference, except for maybe the Pac12.

    signature image signature image

    LilburnNole

  • Jmnpb996 said...

    ACC actually gets some of the better ratings of the major conferences not named SEC. And "product" clearly hasn't been what drives expansion. It's markets. Product on the field doesn't mean crap.

    This /\.

    It's what you can sell to on-air advertisers too. If they do this, I imagine some of my clients in the markets where there are ACC teams, will want to by spot insertions within local commercial game break parameters. I will certainly pitch it to them, especially the car guys! They jes lub fewtbawl dontcherknow - had one car store dealer in EVERY bowl game there was including the NC tilt. They delightfully peed all over their furniture to see themselves on the telly between quarters. Swimming pool dudes, my small engine recreational vehicle guys, my high end copier guys and more. Bring it!

    What many here may not realize, is people will watch even stinkball in droves. Many kids who play for a team come from that region - as we all know, and there is a strong following for the school, team and an inclination to holler at hated rivals.

    Sheeeeeeet. Uncle Nash can sell the heck outta dis boyo!

    signature image

    Ain't no cell phones under water!

    Nashnole

  • I think Swofford realizes how bad his contract is. That's probably why we're seeing this. If we can work something better out, it's good for us.

    fsukum

  • If we can somehow get the New York market onto our plan, the ACC network could be pretty big. Assuming Notre Dame is in the fold we would get New York, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington D.C, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Boston.. Those are some big markets.

    robbynole

  • robbynole said...

    If we can somehow get the New York market onto our plan, the ACC network could be pretty big. Assuming Notre Dame is in the fold we would get New York, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington D.C, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Boston.. Those are some big markets.

    Yes. That's true Robby. Lots of eyeballs in these large media markets. Trick will be to get the cable service providers to carry it. I imagine most will, but they will want to charge the ACC Network for it. THAT will be where the rubber meets the road. So, Swofford and/or whomever he puts in charge of revenue will be eager to talk to me 'n others like me - as we'll be the ones paying the bills. They'll get the National Ad Agencies involved too. Fastest growing demographic of football watching audience, is women 18-54 years of age. I see $$$ on the horizon, IF and that's a BIG if, Swofford can pull this off. So far, what he's mostly shown me is, his best chops are for preventing things, and keeping control of all conference business to the Carolina Cowboys benefit mostly, while the rest of us whistle for our dinner. Cable providers are savvy folks that go up against the FCC and other government entities with regularity. They will eat his face off he's not prepared. This will indeed be fun to watch develop if it gets anywhere beyond the blowhard stage.

    signature image

    Ain't no cell phones under water!

    Nashnole

  • fsukum said...

    Hard to state that without having read the contract and/or being a lawyer. Adding new teams may allow for renegotiation of the contract.

    Of course it allows for negotiations. What it doesn't do is give the ACC the chance to take back its tier 2 and 3 programming. The ONLY way ESPN would give the ACC back some rights to create an ACC Network would be if an ACC Network were operated and partially owned by ESPN and ESPN made more money with an ACCN than they were going to without.

    I think that's a lot to have to hope falls in the ACC's favor.

    Or, the ACC can ask for its tier 2 and 3 rights back, let ESPN drop our per team payout to something like $12M/year and then the ACC could pitch its own network to another network like Fox, CBS, NBC or try to start its own like the Pac 12 (believe they will own 100% of their network, unlike the Big Ten).

    Would the ACCN generate more revenue than the ACC would lose by removing tier 2 and 3 properties from ESPN? The BTN makes $6-7M/year the last few years and that's several years in. The ACCN definitely wouldn't make that right off the bat. And I'm not sure ESPN would even let the ACC out of the contract even if the ACC proposed a significant decrease in guaranteed revenue from ESPN.

    BASICALLY, WTF IS WRONG WITH SWOFFORD?! GUY IS ABOUT 4 YEARS TOO LATE IN STARTING THIS "COMMITTEE". THIS SHOULD'VE HAPPENED BACK WHEN THE ACC WAS AT 12 TEAMS, BACK WHEN OUR OLD CONTRACT WAS NEAR EXPIRING IN 2008 OR 2009. F SWOFFORD. F THE ACC.

    I obviously hope FSU can see an extra $5M/year from this but I highly freaking doubt it.

    tricknole

  • 55Nole said...

    Pathetic PR move by the ACC to try and pretend that they are similar to the Big 10/SEC.

    What is funny is the ACC waited until after signing away all their rights and AFTER Maryland left to look into this. Way too little....way to late.

    ACC loses more members in the next two years IMHO. Warchant will implode when that happens.

    The ACC actually released this information months ago and I've been surprised the mainstream media hasn't written about it with all the chatter about the SEC Network. Sports Business Journal only recently reported it so it isn't new and isn't something the conference just looked into.

    Whether the conference and ESPN can come to an agreement is yet to be determined but its not out of the realm
    of possibility that the two could find mutual benefit.

    Say what you want about the ACC but it does have a massive television footprint and have been in the planning stages themselves.

    Jerry Kutz is Sr. VP of Seminole Boosters and was co-founder and columnist of the Osceola. Contact jkutz@admin.fsu.edu or 850-644-4612.

    Jerry Kutz

  • Thank you Jerry. Good info as always.

    I don't know if most of you are aware, but there ALREADY IS an ACC Network - ACC.com. Also, it is already affiliated with ESPN, as in ESPN3 and ESPNGameplan. The problem is, any television network will have to go through ESPN, as our fearless idiot leader sold our 2-3 rights through 2027. Smart move that was.

    signature image

    Ain't no cell phones under water!

    Nashnole

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