Thursday it became official. The ACC Network is coming. A Grant of Rights is signed between conference members through the 2035-2036 season. Not that there was any real concern about the ACC as a stable conference, but until the Network became official there was a sliver doubt especially as we got into the 2020s.
Here is the official announcement from ESPN.
This blog has followed this developing story for nearly the last 4 years. We made this post in 2012 – about what the ACC should do after Maryland left.
1) Work on Notre Dame
2) Invite Louisville
3) Use the ACC Digital Network to your advantage
4) Get that Network going
3 1/2 years later, all came to pass. @theACCDN will allow the conference to start the Digital portion of the network in August with ESPN. That is going to be a great partnership with ESPN.
Through all the peaks and valleys that network will start in 2019. I once said John Swofford’s legacy would hinge on the Network. At the time I thought the start date would be 2016 or 2017, but we didn’t miss the date by much. To his credit, Swofford accounted for the couple of years without a network going forward.
#ACC‘s John Swofford on rights fees from ESPN: “There will be a bump in these next years until we get to the linear channel.” #ACCKickoff
— David Teel (@DavidTeelatDP) July 21, 2016
No commissioner has done a better job revitalizing a conference following a program departure (Maryland) that John Swofford did over the last 4 years. Critics can say he made some mistakes that may have led to Maryland leaving, but it is not how you start it is how you finish.
Swofford pulled it off, and his legacy secured. He has ensured the future of the ACC and it’s members for at least the next 2 decades.
I’m excited for the future of the conference, and I think the ACC is in a great place going forward.
Finally, we have been telling our readers for over 3 years that a network would happen. Sometimes we manage to get things right.
