Getting the ACC Network deal done "must have felt something like victory" for Commissioner John Swofford and Wasserman Exec VP/Properties Dean Jordan -- the conference's chief TV consultant -- as questions about the channel for years had "chased Swofford and often consumed Jordan," according to Andrew Carter of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, who wrote under the header, "Art Of The Deal: How Swofford, ACC, ESPN Reached Agreement To Launch ACC Network." During the league's annual spring meetings in May, ESPN President John Skipper "shared his confidence" with ACC ADs and other conference officials about starting the network. Then Skipper, Swofford, Jordan and ESPN Exec VP/Programming & Scheduling Burke Magnus met one night, after the day's regularly-scheduled meetings ended, and "finalized what would be announced as the ACC Network." Jordan said, "We worked through, for the most part, all the business parts (of the deal)." On the final day of the spring meetings, Swofford scheduled a 7:00am ET meeting for Skipper to address the ACC ADs. Skipper accessed the room "through a hidden hallway" to avoid any reporters who had been "snooping around the Ritz." Jordan: "We got him in and out without anyone noticing. It was the first time that Skipper had sat down in front of the athletic directors and said, 'Hey, we're going to do this, this is going to be great'" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 7/24).
TIMING IS EVERYTHING: In Virginia, David Teel noted ACC officials had "investigated flying solo" on a conference network. But Jordan said, "If you're doing this today, you have to have a partner like ESPN who understands the business and deals with distributors on a daily basis. It's hard to go at it all alone." Teel notes a few years ago, while preparing to start the SEC Network, ESPN was not ready to "dive immediately into a similar venture with the ACC." Jordan: "About a year ago was when I thought, 'OK, this is going to happen" (DAILYPRESS.com, 7/23).
QUESTIONS LINGER: SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote he is "skeptical that an ACC Network will get major traction nationally." The ACC has teams in nine states that "total about 29 million cable and satellite subscribers." The list of schools carries "great cachet regionally, but two factors go against the network: Cord-cutting will continue to reduce the number of cable subscribers, and college basketball (this conference's strength) has not proven to be a driver of national demand beyond March Madness" (SI.com, 7/24). In Richmond, Paul Woody wrote under the header, "ESPN-ACC Deal Looks Good For Now; Check Back In 10 Years." ESPN and the ACC think the "risk of whatever comes next is worth the reward." Woody: "Betting against Skipper and ESPN has been a bad idea. But in 10 years or so, the bet here is more people will be unhappy than happy" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 7/24).
