Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford has labelled talk of US sports broadcaster ESPN seeking to delay the launch of a dedicated network for the college sports organisation as “premature.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, quoting Georgia Tech president Bud Peterson, said an ACC network, expected for 2017, is now set to be put back a number of years. The conference and ESPN have discussed partnering on a dedicated ACC channel for at least five years, with the Big Ten and SEC organisations having already launched their own platforms.
“(ESPN) had come back and said that in some of the other instances where (conference) networks have started, they lost considerable amounts of money in the first couple of years,” Peterson said. “What they’d like to do is delay the start for a couple of years and do the necessary preparation.”
In exchange for a later start date, ESPN could make additional payments on top of the rights fees already paid to the conference, Peterson added. The ACC signed an extension with ESPN in 2012 to continue their partnership through to the end of the 2026-27 academic year. The deal was renegotiated with the addition of Notre Dame to the ACC later that year and a grant of rights agreement in 2013.
Commenting on the reports, Swofford said: “Anything said surrounding our ongoing television discussions is premature and speculative. If, or when, we reach a point where our television agreements have been altered, we will make an announcement at the appropriate time.”