http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/article76656402.html
The ACC is undoubtedly concerned about where it fits into the financial hierarchy of college sports, an order that is determined most of all by a conference’s TV rights contracts. Recent news surrounding the Big Ten suggests the ACC could be falling further behind.
The Sports Business Journal reported last month that the Big Ten had sold half of its media rights to Fox Sports for $250 million annually, which means that each of the conference’s schools would annually receive nearly $18 million alone from that deal. But that would only be the start.
There’s also the Big Ten Network. And whatever figure the conference receives for the other half of its rights, which figure to be more lucrative than the ones the conference sold to Fox Sports. Add it up and Big Ten schools could soon be making close to $40 million annually off of TV contracts.
Or, in other words, almost twice as much as the about $20 million ACC schools receive annually from the league’s deal with ESPN. Though nobody would say anything in an official capacity on Monday, the league’s financial status remains a great concern. The ACC is already behind both the SEC and the Big Ten. Now it could fall significantly behind, and the ACC’s contract with ESPN doesn’t expire until 2027.
As recently as two weeks ago, at least one ACC athletic director expressed public concern about the league’s financial health in light of the Big Ten’s deal. Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich told The Clemson Insider, a website that covers the school, that there was “urgency” for an ACC channel.
http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2016/5/10/11647954/acc-meeting-reveals-anxiety-about-media-deals
The truth is that there's only so much room for dedicated conference networks. The SEC, Big Ten and PAC-12 all have one and Texas has one of its own (which is causing major problems for the Big 12 as it looks to expand).
ESPN is going to be forced to retrench soon and the competitors are not as rich as the Disney-owned ESPN.
Fortunately there are alternatives. Both Apple and Amazon are competing for programming and though Netflix has said that it has no interest in sports, you never know. Verizon is interested as well and AT&T/DirectTV might be too. It's an area that Facebook, also very wealthy and tinkering with Virtual Reality, might want to get into.
Meanwhile, all the TV networks are struggling with the changes that companies like Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook are causing.
It's also worth mentioning that Apple's Tim Cook and Eddie Cue are both Fuqua grads and Duke/ACC fans.
Apple, Amazon and Facebook have huge cash reserves, far more than any TV network, and a need for programming. The Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest is often (erroneously) quoted as saying you should "get there fustest with the mostest."
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/article76656402.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/article76656402.html#storylink=cpy
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