The ESPN-owned and operated ACC Network will launch on Aug. 22, 2019. That’s one week before carrying its first conference football game, a Thursday night tilt between Georgia Tech and Clemson.
The ACC Network will be a linear channel with a significant digital presence. Those two platforms are expected to broadcast 1,300 live events annually across the conference’s 15 schools and 27 sports.
After announcing a 20-year extension of its ACC rights in July 2016, ESPN launched the ACC Network Extra a few months later. That digital hub streams conference sports not shown on linear TV. ESPN owns the rights to every intra-conference sporting event.
“With just under nine months until launch, we are all systems go with ACC Network preparations,” said ESPN president and Disney Media Networks co-chairman James Pitaro in a statement. “The strength of the season opening game between Georgia Tech and Clemson is indicative of the robust schedule and programming we have planned for ACC fans.”
SportTechie Takeaway
The ACC is very late to the branded TV network party. Peer conferences such as the SEC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 will all have had at least a seven-year head start. (The other Power 5 conference, the Big 12, currently has no league-wide network.) Finding an exact accounting of proceeds from these endeavors is tricky, but Gridiron Now reported in January 2016 that, at the time, the SEC Network brought in roughly $102 million in revenue, or nearly $7 million per member school. The ACC Network will be an immediate cash cow next year, even if it probably won’t match the SEC’s haul.