Tech men's basketball fans impatiently wait for the completion of a timeout during the Hokies' ESPN televised National Invitational Tournament game against Connecticut on March 24 in Cassell Coliseum.
Late last week, ESPN and the Atlantic Coast Conference struck a 12-year television deal, more than doubling the conference’s television revenue while guaranteeing the conference financial stability for years to come.
The deal gives ESPN exclusive rights to every conference-controlled football and men’s basketball game, plus women’s basketball and Olympic sports match-ups, and conference championships.
According to a statement made by the ACC, ESPN will now serve as the national cable and broadcast TV home for the conference.
It will also serve as the distributor of syndication telecasts via an agreement with Raycom Sports, through which Raycom Sports will continue its long-standing position as the syndication home of ACC content. In other words, Raycom Sports will continue to syndicate ACC content while the conference’s games will not be blacked out in its 12 local markets.
“We are excited to be continuing our partnership with ESPN and Raycom Sports,” ACC commissioner John Swofford said after the agreement was made official. “This agreement allows our schools to reach significantly new financial heights while also showcasing more ACC content and coverage than ever before across traditional and new media platforms.”
While the two sides did not release financial terms, a person who spoke on the condition of anonymity to the Associated Press said the deal increases the average annual TV revenues per school from $5.4 million to an estimated $11.9 million.
More than doubling the conference’s annual revenue to $155 million, it also makes the ACC the third-highest grossing conference in college sports, trailing just the Big Ten ($242 million) and Southeastern Conference ($205 million).
The deal comes after a season in which the league’s schools won a record eight national championships, with Duke’s triumph in April marking the conference’s fifth men’s basketball title in 10 seasons.
It will result in approximately 4,800 ACC events over the 12 years on ESPN’s television outlets, digital and mobile platforms, syndication and more.
“Some of ESPN’s most memorable moments have featured the ACC and we’re proud to extend our long-term relationship with this great conference and Raycom,” said George Bodenheimer, President of ESPN, Inc.
ESPN has been televising ACC content since the first year of the network in 1979-80. However, never has it had the dedication to the conference that it will have beginning in 2011-12.
Highlights of the football deal include national games on Saturday afternoons and evenings, primetime Thursday games, Labor Day Monday and the ACC Football Championship Game.
The men’s basketball deal, on the other hand, includes the most games ever across the ESPN networks, highlighted by both regular season matchups between Duke and North Carolina and a new weekly Sunday franchise on ESPNU. Also, the deal includes every regular season intra-conference game and the entire conference tournament produced and distributed via ESPN and Raycom Sports.
“We are very excited to continue our 30 year partnership with the ACC and ESPN,” said Ken Haines, President and CEO of Raycom Sports. “Throughout the ever-changing landscape of sports television, we have always prided ourselves on the long term relationships we have with both the ACC and ESPN.”
Under the deal, ESPN will have a new, weekly ESPNU Sunday telecast and will continue televising ACC action on ESPN’s Super Tuesday, Wednesday Night Hoops, Thursday Night Showcase and on Saturdays.
A record number of women’s regular season basketball games and the addition of the entire conference tournament are included in the deal as well.
Additionally, an expanded commitment to the league’s 22 sponsored Olympic sports, increasing ESPN’s coverage to include regular season and conference championship events is included in the agreement.
The agreement, which will last until 2022-23, includes all of ESPN’s entities including ESPN, ESPN on ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3.com, the new ESPN 3D network, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN GamePlan, ESPN FULL COURT, ESPN International, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Classic and ESPN.com.
Numerous events will also be produced in high definition across ESPN HD, ABC HD, ESPN2 HD and ESPNU HD.
A version of this article appeared in the Jul 15 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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The extra revenue created by this contract will allow the VT athletics department to do a combination of two key things:
1) leverage debt financing to build larger facilities
2) Develop human capital (scholarships, coaching salaries)
I'm guessing we'll see the indoor football practice facility built soon, and various improvements/additions to existing facilities like English Field and the track/field complex. They'll also spread the money and hire more coaches and give more scholarship.
This money will make losing to other in-state programs besides UVa much less likely as higher quality athletes will increasingly choose tech.
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