ESPN and the Atlantic Coast Conference have reached a 20-year rights deal that will lead to the launch of an ACC-dedicated cable channel, dubbed ACC Network – in 2019 as well as a digital-only offering slated for next month, according to several published reports.
According to
reports, ESPN and the ACC have agreed to a deal that will give the network rights to conference games through the 2035-2036 academic year.
ACC commissioner John Swofford is expected to offer details of the new deal at the ACC’s Football Kickoff in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday.
ACC Network is expected to look a lot like ESPN’s other college sports conference channel, the SEC Network. ESPN launched SEC in 2014 around the time it and other Walt Disney Co. channel renewals were coming due. The ability to bundle the ACC Network launch with ESPN and other channels could be behind the logic for waiting until 2019 for the official launch of ACC Network.
According to
Sports Business Journal, the ACC digital offering – ACC Network Plus – will be fully owned by ESPN and available to subscribers on an authenticated basis through its Watch ESPN service and the ESPN app. The digital channel will offer about 600 Olympic-style events per year.
According to reports, ACC Network would carry about 400 events, including 40 football and 150 men’s and women’s basketball games a year. Notre Dame football isn’t included because the university has long had its own separate football deal. But if the school did decide to give up its independence, it is contracted to join the ACC.
