An odd article article was written Fansided recently, that said the ACC Network was a sinking ship. Now I’m not sure how much the ACC Network will make, but according to the Florida State AD Stan Wilcox they expect it will make $8-$10 Million in 2019-2020.
If there’s still doubt about the ACC Network one only has to look at the Pac 12 Network. It has struggled with carriage rates, distribution, and just a general lack of interest. From Pac 12 journalist Jon Wilner it is projected to make $2.75 Million in a recent article of his.
The Pac-12 Networks are stable at worst and growing, slowly but steadily, at best:
— The number of subscribers has increase significantly, from about 12 million soon after launch to the current tally of 19 million (Kagan’s estimate).
— Moreover, the networks are expected to distribute $2.75 million to the campuses (approximately) in fiscal year 2018.
From that same article the SEC has a carriage rate of .74 per subscriber, the Big 10 Network is .48, and the Pac 12 network is .11. For all the issues of the Pac 12 we’ve mentioned, it would be a highly unlikely that an ACC Network associated with the ESPN would suffer the same fate. Even if it did, the ACC Network would still generate a significant increase in revenue for its member schools.
I doubt the ACC Network will pull in a carriage rate equal to the SEC Network, and the Big 10 could be a stretch too. That’s not impossible though. I expect the number to be anywhere from .25 – .50.
Even in the cord cutting era – conference networks make money and the ACC Network is going to as well.
