With launch of its own TV network in 2019, ACC catching up to SEC
When I was covering Florida State half a decade ago, the ACC lagged behind the other Power 5 conferences.
Expansion talk was running rampant. There were rumors that the Seminoles might bolt the ACC for the Big 12, which was in pouncing position. The ACC reacted to the uncertainty by adding Pittsburgh and Syracuse.
Then, in late 2012, Maryland agreed to leave for the Big Ten. The ACC went two-for-one with the Terrapins gone by adding Louisville and Notre Dame — the Irish remained independent in football, though — to get to where it is now. While the pigskin product was average at best, the league was saved from oblivion.
In a joint announcement Thursday, ESPN will debut the ACC Network for cable and satellite viewers by 2019.
Among the Power 5, the SEC and Big Ten had clearly separated themselves financially from the ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12. Credit the SEC Network and Big Ten Network cash cows for that. They’re simply printing money.
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The Big 12 doesn’t have a television channel, although Texas has the Longhorn Network — it’s more failure than success at this point. While the Pac-12 does have a television channel, it hasn’t been as lucrative as the SEC Network and Big Ten Network. No DirecTV distribution is a ratings killer. Sports fans go dish.
It’s time to reshuffle the Power 5 pecking order. Behind the SEC and Big Ten, the ACC is now firmly No. 3.
“We look forward to working with our longtime partners at the ACC to create a network that reflects the depth and quality of its athletes and teams and serves the fans who passionately support them,” ESPN president John Skipper said in an official statement. “We are proud and excited to add the ACC Network to our industry-leading college content offerings.”
We’re still a few years away from the ACC Network as a standalone channel. However, digital broadcasts — it’s being called ACC Network Extra — will be available by next month, just in time for football season.
“This partnership continues to be a win-win for ESPN and the ACC,” commissioner John Swofford said. “ESPN is the premier provider in sports content, and this agreement will deliver unprecedented coverage to our fans while highlighting our quality student-athletes, coaches and institutions.”
The new 20-year partnership has the ACC and ESPN in bed together until 2036. This deal keeps Notre Dame in the barn, too. If the Fighting Irish ever decide to join a conference for football, they’re now obligated contractually to make it the ACC. Additionally, leaving the league is untenable money-wise for any school.
“The announcement of an ACC channel is the culmination of years of consulting, evaluating and planning,” Andrew Carter wrote Thursday in the News & Observer. “Swofford (below), the ACC commissioner, reportedly began seriously considering the prospect of an ACC channel in the fall of 2012, when Notre Dame joined the ACC in all sports except for football.”
Some SEC fans have dreamed of going all corporate raider and plucking the top football teams from the ACC.
Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
If the SEC were to expand from 14 schools to 16, ACC powerhouses Florida State and Clemson would’ve made the most sense. Both are already in the football-frenzied Southeast and run SEC-level gridiron programs.
The Seminoles have played an annual intrastate battle with Florida for decades, just like the Tigers have with South Carolina, so imagine how much more meaningful Rivalry Week could be if a trip to the SEC title game were also at stake. All of a sudden, the East wouldn’t be the inferior division compared to the West.
“The ACC is a great conference, and this increases the national exposure, brings in additional revenue and offers greater opportunity for student-athletes,” Clemson president Jim Clements told Brett McMurphy of ESPN. “For us and the Florida States and others, it stabilizes the conference long term.”
However, as we saw with the additions of Texas A&M and Missouri in 2012, expanding the footprint is Job 1.
Since the SEC doesn’t have a presence in the Tar Heel State, North Carolina might have been the ideal ACC target. Charlotte and Raleigh are respectable TV markets. There are A-plus academics in Chapel Hill, too.
Nevertheless, Swofford used to be the athletic director at UNC before becoming commissioner of the ACC. No way would he have allowed the Heels to defect to the SEC under any circumstances. Obviously a basketball-first institution — just like square-peg-round-hole Kentucky — football fanatics may have yawned anyway.
If nabbing a team or two from the ACC is off the table for the next 20 years, does the SEC just stand pat?
Based on what we’re seeing from the Big 12, that’s probably the best bet. Ready to expand from 10 schools to 12, BYU and Group of 5 competitors like Houston, Memphis, Cincinnati and Connecticut remain optimistic.
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Sure, having two six-team divisions and a conference championship game would make the Big 12 look better in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committee. But none of the aforementioned universities moves the needle very much. While Houston may be on the rise lately, the Big 12 doesn’t need more TVs in Texas.
As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The SEC remains the envy of every other conference.
The West is without a doubt the most competitive division in the country. Even if the East is watered down to some degree, Florida, Georgia and a resurgent Tennessee are national brands with coast-to-coast appeal.
If the SEC simply sits back and waits for a while, it’s certainly plausible that the Big 12 becomes more unstable than stable in the coming years. Texas is on an island all by itself — that doesn’t make schools like Oklahoma happy. Maybe the Sooners are in play one day and can talk Oklahoma State into coming along.
For today, at least, this is a victory for the ACC. The SEC is still king of the conference hill, though.
John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South. You can send him an e-mail directly at jcrist@saturdaydownsouth.com or follow him on Twitter @SaturdayJC.
