ACC Network

[HtownOrange]

Again, read the piece I linked above and the associated pieces it links to.

If Raycom didn't put up the sub-licensing of $50 million to get to the annual $155 million figure, then the ACC was going to either have to settle for less or get those sub-licensing fees from someone other than Fox. But at that time, who else do you think was going to step in?

Cheers,
Neil

Neil,

I read the linked article and have read other articles of a similar nature. I still dislike the appearance of impropriety. I admit, I'm not sold on Swofford being the genius everyone claims and I am no fan of his, though very thankful that he finally got the Orange in the ACC. If he freely disclosed everything to the schools before hand and they discussed the issues outside if Swofford's presence, then I would probably have more confidence, but I've not read anything along this line. Swofford's record against Clemson and appearing to protect UNC is also on my mind. Maybe that is part of my concern.

I do understand the issue of the Raycom payment going to ESPN, the actual rights holder under the ACC deal, from whom Raycom is actually subletting the rights. This is a red herring by much of the anti-Swofford crowd, it was never an issue with me.

I also fully understand that the original ACC deal and the present deal are as good as they can be under the circumstances. Though I would have preferred that Swofford and Co. follow the original plan to await the confirmation of the SEC, Big 12 and the Big East deals before addressing the renegotiation. In fairness, the quick deal may have been reached by ESPN agreeing to the 5 and 10 year look-ins. We probably will never know the exact details.