So the smoke has cleared a bit and now we can analyze the ACC's new TV deal with ESPN.
1. It was better than anyone thought. ESPN passed on their exclusive window earlier this spring and lowballed the ACC until the end. Thankfully FOX came in with a full court press and forced ESPN's hand. ESPN also needed the ACC now more than they did last spring. With Turner entering the college hoops world, ESPN needed to secure the flagship college hoops conference for content. ESPN also rebranded ESPN 360 into ESPN3. As part of that they need a major conference willing to put their games online. The SEC was not willing. The ACC was.
2. Some of you will still have a hard time seeing all of BC's games. Because we are now in bed with them, this means more games on ESPN U, more games on ESPN3.com and continued regional partnering with Raycom. Sorry folks. If your cable company doesn't step up, consider a dish or fios.
3. ESPN will sell some of their games to Raycom. Instead of Raycom bidding seperately they have agreed to buy ACC games from ESPN. That means there will still be regional, syndicated broadcast coverage of ACC sports. It is to be determined if this will carry ESPN branding, ACC branding or Raycom branding, but it will be a Raycom production and probably have the same affiliate network Raycom now has.
4. The ACC is betting on the future. The ACC's deal is smaller than the SEC's. It is also shorter. So next time the ACC will negotiate before the SEC. The thought process with this is that the economy will be better, there is an advantage for setting the market and the power football teams (Miami and FSU) will be stronger.
5. This helps protect the conference but doesn't guarantee anything. The deal is strong and makes it much less likely that anyone will bolt but it is still short of the Big Ten and the SEC's deals. As long as there is money on the table, teams will listen.
Labels: ACC and ESPN, ACC TV deals, espn, espn 360