Two of FSU's first three football games this fall may be unavailable to many fans due to ongoing negotiationsGETTY IMAGES
Some major TV providers have "still not reached a deal to carry" the ACC Network ahead of its "long-anticipated launch date" on Aug. 22, according to Curt Weiler of the TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT. Comcast and Dish Network "remain in ongoing negotiations without an agreement in sight," meaning two of FSU's first three '19 football games "may not be available" for many fans to watch. DirecTV, Playstation Vue and Hulu Live are the "only three carriers in Tallahassee that have agreed to carry the ACC Network." On August 25, three days after the net launches, FSU will "host the first live event broadcast on the network as the defending national champion FSU soccer team hosts Wisconsin." FSU's home football opener against the Univ. of Louisiana-Monroe is "set to be broadcast exclusively on the ACC Network" at 5:00pm ET on Sept. 7. The school's road opener at Virginia Tech is "also set to be broadcast on the ACC Network" on Sept. 14 (TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT, 7/13).
NUMBERS GAME: THE ATHLETIC's David Glenn notes the ACC Network's existing base of an estimated 20 million subscribers is "well above the industry standard" and more big news is "expected to be shared shortly." Sources said that the channel is "expected to debut with 30 million-50 million subscribers" on more than 75 carriers nationally. Those numbers are "better than almost all of the most similar ventures that came before it." However, there still remain some "major holdouts, including the two largest cable companies and five of the top nine providers overall, but that's actually the industry standard." Even the Big Ten Network and SEC Network "faced similar hurdles in their early stages." Comcast/Xfinity and Charter/Spectrum, which have 21 million and 16 million households, respectively, have no public agreements with the ACC Network yet. UNC AD Bubba Cunningham said, "We all want these bigger contracts signed early, but they only rarely happen that way. Sometimes they go down to the last minute" (THEATHLETIC.com, 7/15).
LOOKING AHEAD: Clemson AD Dan Radakovich said he expects the ACC Network will "help exposure in some of our Olympic sports, but that's one of the things you have to look at on a longer term basis." Radakovich: "You may not have as many soccer games on as you'd like in Year 1, but we have 15 schools that need to get those games. But over the course of time I think that will even out, and the better we play the more we'll be on the network in those Olympic sports." He added, "It's going to be great for football. Outside of the opening game against Georgia Tech and maybe one of our nonconference games, I don't know where we'll stand in the pecking order." More Radakovich: "Financially it'll be better in Year 2 and 3 than it is in Year 1, as the distribution continues to grow and opportunities for our partner ESPN to expand the footprint" (Columbia STATE, 7/13).
LIFE IS GOOD: New York Life has signed on as the first founding sponsor of the ACC Network. In extending its sponsorship agreement with the ACC, the insurer continues as title sponsor of the conference men's basketball tournament and its official life insurance company, two designations New York Life has held since '14. The deal includes ad inventory on the nascent ACC Network, on-site signage, hospitality and community relations programs. The agreement also will see the insurer extend its ACC activation for the first time into sports other than basketball, including football, baseball and lacrosse. New York Life is also title sponsor of the Pac-12 men's and women's basketball tourneys. Strategic is New York Life’s longtime sports agency of record (Terry Lefton, THE DAILY).
