The ACC has awarded ESPN exclusive national cable
rights to televise football on ESPN and ESPN2 through 2005,
and extended its broadcast agreement with ABC Sports for the
same period. The deal also includes the out-of-market
rights to ESPN's GamePlan for ABC telecasts (ESPN).
DETAILS: In Charlotte, Eddy Landreth reports sources
who put the new deal at $190-200M, following a $98M deal
from '96-2000 (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/29). USA TODAY's
Michael Hiestand reports that ABC and ESPN will also
officially renew their Big Ten football coverage today until
2006. Hiestand writes that after these two deals and ABC's
recent re-signing with the Pac-10 until 2006, ABC, "after
competition from CBS and Fox, has retained its dominance in
college football" (USA TODAY, 7/29). In N.Y., Richard
Sandomir writes that ABC "wanted to keep its existing
strength on Saturday afternoons, but also to deprive CBS of
any chance to add to its combined" SEC-Big East package,
which enters its second season this fall. ABC Sports Senior
VP David Downs: "This ensures we can't be beaten at 3:30
P.M. on Saturday afternoon" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/29).
