As for the current "ACC Network", this is actually kind of interesting. That's a pretty impressive bump. I'm pretty critical of the Raycom relationship, and perpetuating it at the cost of revenue. They are an extra middleman that is totally unnecessary and takes cash out of the deal. That said, this is a pretty impressive jump in exposure. IF, and it's a big IF there is significant value to exposure, at this point we're probably being syndicated in significantly more markets that we would be if ESPN was just syndicating us directly like they have the SEC.
That said, I'm a Florida State fan. I want the money...we don't need the exposure. And I have my doubts about the real value of having BC-NC State on OTA channels in Memphis and Minneapolis and Phoenix. Maybe that exposure is very valuable...I just really don't know. But if you're trading exposure for cash, this new distribution is definitely more impressive than it had been.
One more interesting, long forgotten note. When the most recent contract was signed including Raycom, it was reported that terms for the Raycom distribution deal could begin to throw off profit sharing revenue back to the ACC should certain benchmarks be reached. Of course, nobody knows anything about it, because the ACC keeps everything, good or bad, locked up like a state secret. But I wonder if this news means that will come into play at some point. Of course, I have no idea if we're anywhere close to that, or if we're talking about anything that would add up to real money, but it's the first thing I thought of when I heard this.
As for a real ACC Network...I hope it's the ACC slow-playing this, not ESPN. The ACC needs to be driving the best deal possible, not landing the deal the most quickly they can. The league is stabilized, nobody is going anywhere in the next couple years. ACC football is just now starting to emerge from a decade+ long funk. ACC basketball has been ho-hum by ACC standards, was rather disappointing last year, and Louisville hasn't even started play. In essence, the ACC's value is still, if not at an all time low, only a year or two removed from an all time low. The SEC had to cash in now, even being locked up with ESPN and having limited leverage, because the SEC was never going to be worth more than it has been the past few years. They had to strike at the peak of their value, when carriage would be the easiest to attain.
Considering the leverage is all with ESPN right now, the ACC should be in no undue rush to marry ESPN in perpetuity. Each year that we get closer to the end of the contracts, each year that football improves, each year that the footprint grows in population, and each year that basketball comes closer to fulfilling it's apparent destiny, is a year the ACC grows considerably in value.
If I'm ESPN, I'm pushing the ACC to take a low-ball offer now, based on recent history, and trying to capitalize on lingering inferiority issues. That's the scariest thing to me...that Swofford and the ACC are so obsessed with having a network to trophy that they make a lousy deal.
There is simply no urgency on this issue at all. The ACC needs to make sure they get a great deal, or be willing to forgo a network completely until the demand drives great terms.
