ACC, ESPN to launch ACC Network in 2019

In addition to the ACC Network news, the conference has also extended their TV deal with ESPN through the 2035-2036 season, a 20-year extension.

With the recent additions of Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame, the ACC is made of 15 schools and geographically covers almost half the US population.

League sources told ESPN – and they should be good sources, since ESPN is backing the enterprise – that the ACC will announce an ACC Network that will launch by August of 2019.

A grant of rights deal essentially keeps schools from leaving a conference; under such an agreement, the league owns media rights and some revenues from home games for the length of the deal. The Fighting Irish are an independent in football, meaning their conference affiliation (or lack thereof) is always a hot topic for realignment theorists and conversations.

The Big Ten’s network, which launched in 2007, is backed by Fox.

ACC commissioner John Swofford could reveal more specifics later this week.

The ACC, as you’d expect, aren’t about to be left out in the dark any longer. Even if the ACC only pays out at $30 – $32 million, it will allow Clemson to compete with other national powers in college football. To date, other sports have landed on ESPN3 – the digital streaming arm of ESPN – frequently, but the new deal will shift the offerings to a new digital channel. The digital channel wll offer about 600 Olympic-style events per year.

While some of the basic information is well covered in the articles and blurbs above, many details remain unclear. Those two conferences generate the most revenue because their channels have the most distribution.

The launch of the network will be discussed this week when the ACC holds its preseason football media days beginning Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.