The ACC Network will debut in 2019, and it’ll come with several changes to the ACC’s lineup of games.
This week, the ACC announced it would be launching its very own network. In a press conference Thursday, it became official. The network will show 450 live events, 40 of them football games. If it can secure rights to the right football games, the ACC Network could have a solid debut.
Obviously, if it can get games like Clemson-Florida State it’ll get good ratings, but the conference as a whole will have to improve if it wants to compete with the SEC Network and the Pac-12 Network.
In basketball, the ACC will expand to 20 conference basketball games to satisfy the linear format of the network. The ACC is still one of the premiere basketball conferences in the nation, and the network will likely lay claim to the legendary Duke-UNC matchup.
In terms of conference expansion, this announcement will force the Big 12 to make a decision on expansion sooner rather than later. The Big 12 can’t keep going back and forth on their decision anymore, unless they secretly want to fall apart.
The ACC Network will not be an immediate revenue stream for the conference, but if it invests solid money and work into the network, it should take off. It’s hard to beat 450 unique live events, especially 40 football games. The ACC is on the right track here, and the addition of the ACC Network will make them financially competitive down the line.
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