SBJ College: ACC Network Has Liftoff

The ASU Fantasy Football League will celebrate its 30th anniversary at the draft this weekend in Boone, N.C. Ten of the original 12 owners, including myself, are still playing. How many leagues can say that?

Here’s what is cooking on campus:

ACC NETWORK LAUNCHES WITH BIG NAMES APPEARING

Commissioner John Swofford (c) joins ACC Network talent just prior to the channel's launch

• In case you were out to dinner earlier tonight, here’s what you missed when ACC Network launched at 7:00pm ET:
  
  
  • Commissioner John Swofford welcomed viewers, shouting “Let’s go!” before received a bear hug from analyst Eric Mac Lain.
  • The four all-time ACC greats that were mentioned first: North Carolina’s Mia Hamm and Michael Jordan, Wake Forest’s Arnold Palmer and Florida State’s Deion Sanders.
  • The six national championship trophies the conference won last season, including Clemson in football and Virginia in basketball, made quite a statement.
  • In the first 10 minutes, ACC Network announcers interviewed four former greats: Duke’s Christian Laettner, UVa's Ralph Sampson, FSU’s Charlie Ward and UNC's Kristine Lilly.
  • The first sponsorship appeared to be Dr Pepper’s presenting deal for next week’s Georgia Tech-Clemson football game.
  • Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney appeared via camera and talked about his summer. He celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary by traveling with his family to Italy and France.
    
    
• The person who might have been most responsible for ACC Network was nowhere to be found tonight. Former ESPN President John Skipper was an advocate and proponent for an ACC channel until his resignation in 2017. Skipper, a UNC grad who now runs DAZN, met Swofford often in Greensboro, where the conference HQ is located, to talk about the potential of a channel. Many of those lunch meetings took place at Sedgefield Country Club, the same place where the ACC was conceived and founded. “I always liked going there because of the spirit of the place,” Swofford said of those meetings with Skipper. “Certainly, his knowledge and affection for the league helped along the way.”

ESPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL DOCUMENTARY TACKLES SPORT'S ORIGINS

• ESPN on Saturday will debut “Football is US: The College Game" -- part of the network’s plans to celebrate the 150th anniversary of college football. The documentary from director Jonathan Hock explores the sport from the first game in 1869 to the present day, and delves in such topics as the tension between the dangers of the game and its beauty and the journey of HBCUs. SBJ’s Austin Karp spoke with ESPN VP and Executive Producer for Original Content & Special Projects John Dahl, who is at the helm of the network's College Football 150 initiative.
  
  
• Dahl, who has worked on the "30 for 30" project since it began, said of this film: "We decided to do one that was really about the evolution of the game. The essence of the game. Why it matters. What is it about football and college football that strikes such a chord in America? It is such an American phenomenon and what Hock is setting out to do in this film is get to the core of why it matters." But the film will not be a straight chronological tale. Dahl: "It's a chance to take on the issues of college football through a series of themes. One of those themes is the coach as the central figure."
  
  
• Who can we expect to see pop up in this film? "We've got some very thoughtful people in there," Dahl said. "Authors, as well as former coaches and players. Urban Meyer. Barry Switzer. Jerry Rice. Johnny Rodgers. Andre Ware. ... Key figures like Knute Rockne, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Eddie Robinson, Woody Hayes, Nick Saban." The film will also look at innovators in the game that many people might not know. "Some fascinating characters like Mouse Davis and the wide open offense he was running in Portland State in the late '70s and early '80s. And Mississippi Valley State with Archie Cooley and the 'Satellite Express.'"
  
            

MIAMI IS LATEST SCHOOL TO TAP FANATICS FOR APPAREL DEAL

• Licensing revenue traditionally has been like the stock market -- it’s up and down based primarily on how the football and basketball teams are performing. Successful years tend to stimulate more sales. That’s one reason Fanatics is so bullish on its new direct-to-consumer model that offers schools a guaranteed annual royalty. It takes out some of the guesswork, while providing its clients with plenty of upside.
  
  
• Miami is the latest school to buy into the business proposition by signing a 10-year exclusive licensing deal today that makes Fanatics the Hurricanes’ primary apparel partner. Florida and Oregon have similar arrangements. Adidas maintains its position for all of the Canes’ competition-based gear, like jerseys. Fanatics will have the apparel, headwear and hard goods categories.
  
  
• For a smaller, private school like The U, whose fans are dispersed all over the country, Fanatics’ e-commerce platform can be a source of fan data as well. It collects information from customers and shares it with the schools. “Data from these consumer transactions opens doors for the university to convert into a ticket buyer, a donor or a potential sponsor,” said Fanatics College Exec VP Derek Eiler. “We’re just starting to unlock the value in that for the college marketplace.”
  
  

SPEED READS

• Georgia Tech AD Todd Stansbury on his monthly podcast said he constantly hears from fans who say there aren't enough apparel options in gold. "We’re not part of the retail supply chain, and retailers do not take our advice on what they should be putting in their stores," Stansbury said. "Their research typically shows that navy is the No. 1 color choice." But after Learfield IMG College recently conducted a GT fan survey that drew 11,000 responses -- the most of any college in Learfield IMG's stable -- Stansbury now has data showing gold is the top choice.
  
  
• The Pac-12 has scrapped the idea of having a few games kick off at 9:00am PT -- at least for this season. On ESPN L.A. 710 AM today, morning drive host Travis Rodgers said, "You're not going to have a tailgate at 5:30 in the morning. ... Instead of trying to kick off in the middle of morning, here's an idea: have USC be good. Because when USC is good, everyone pays attention to the Pac-12. When Oregon had Marcus Mariota winning the Heisman and was really good and competing for national championships ... everyone is paying attention to the Pac-12."
  
  
• Rutgers is feeling a big pinch at the box office ahead of the football season. Season-ticket sales are down 27% -- the school’s lowest level since 2012. The Newark Star-Ledger’s Steve Politi, speaking on an NJ.com podcast, said, “This seems like the first loss of the year for Chris Ash. A head coach -- he’s not the guy selling tickets -- but he is the guy selling tickets.” NJ.com’s James Kratch added, “There’s not a lot of buzz about this football team ... and the matchups are just not exciting people. Why are they playing Liberty? ... If they had scheduled Army for the 150th anniversary of college football, the place would be sold out.”
  
  
• A study of college football social media brands by measurement firm MVPindex found that Michigan has passed Alabama as the top program across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (engagements, followers, impressions, etc). Looking specifically at the 2018 season, the partnership between Under Armour and Notre Dame delivered the most value on social among all school partners. Jordan Brand has led all corporate brands in terms of interaction value across college football social accounts, followed by UA, Nike, Adidas and Capital One.
  
  
• ESPN's Chris Fowler talked about the earlier-than-normal start to college football this season, which begins Saturday, and said it "doesn’t seem like we’re quite ready" for football to start. Appearing on the "SI Media Podcast," Fowler said: "I don’t think it’s going to be an annual thing. I’m good with that because it’s pretty early in the summer." Fowler said he tries to be "authentic" when calling games. "There are a lot of shows where people are playing roles more than being authentic. I just hope that people know the difference."

THROWBACK THURSDAY

• On this week in 2014, the $68.5 million College Football Hall of Fame opened its doors in downtown Atlanta after moving from South Bend. The venue is commemorating the five-year anniversary by allowing free admission throughout the month of August, underwritten by sponsors Coca-Cola and Chick-fil-A.

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Something on the College beat catch your eye? Tell us about it. Reach out to either me (msmith@sportsbusinessjournal.com) or Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessdaily.com) and we'll share the best of it. Also contributing to this newsletter is Thomas Leary (tleary@sportsbusinessdaily.com).