US college sports organisation the Atlantic Coast Conference has agreed a deal that will allow the league to retain the media rights to any university that leaves the conference.
The conference’s council of presidents said that each of the ACC’s current and future 15-member institutions had signed the agreement.
The deal locks the member universities into the conference, effectively adding further protection to a 15-year rights deal with US pay-television sports broadcaster ESPN, from 2012-13 to 2026-27.
The ACC’s current and future 15-member institutions include: Boston College, Clemson University, Duke University, Florida State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Louisville, University of Miami, University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, University of Notre Dame, University of Pittsburgh, Syracuse University, University of Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University and Wake Forest University.