Friday I said the next 6 weeks will shape College Football’s future and I want to follow-up on a couple of topics. When the Big 12/SEC announced their new bowl game for their teams that don’t make the 4-team playoff, it created a huge positive buzz for both conferences nationally.
It was a great PR move. There was another story Friday. The Syracuse AD explained the ACC deal on a radio show. He went into great detail and discussed the benefits of exposure on ESPN vs upfront cash and estimated the true value of the ACC deal was 24-25 Million per team. Accurate numbers? Maybe? I don’t know, but they sure sound good.
What I do know in the PR business it doesn’t matter if numbers are inflated, maybe inaccurate or in some cases just flat wrong. The fact is there was a story that showed the ACC in a positive light and it wasn’t anywhere to be found except as an obscure link on a couple of message boards. The ACC is losing the PR battle and it’s making a big difference in conference expansion.
Tier 3 rights, exclusive basketball rights, backloading all initially used as issues with the ACC deal were explained again, but only well after the damage was done. Nobody remembers the re-traction or explanation only the original story.
Now we’ve reached a critical juncture for the ACC. As long as FSU and Clemson are in the ACC, the conference will have a position at any conference playoff table. John Swofford needs to reach out to every ACC school to maintain their positions until the playoff meetings are over next month. As I’ve said before if the ACC is not an equal partner in the playoff format then there is no stopping the advent of the 16 team super conference.
If he has not done so already it is time to work on a bowl scenario with the Notre Dame. Maybe even work on a deal to get the highest rated team not in the Rose or Big 12/SEC Deal vs the ACC’s rep in the Orange Bowl. I understand an ACC network is a possibility under the deal with ESPN. Let it be known, release some revenue numbers and date possibilities.
Whatever needs to be done Swofford and his team need to create some good PR buzz and it needs to done in the very near future. I am literally talking next few days. If there is any nugget of good news they better release it. Time is not the friend of the ACC at the moment.
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The ACC, conference expansion, and a month of mis-information and confusion. » All Sports Discussion says:
June 10, 2012 at 12:35 am (UTC -5)
[…] seen as the separation of the 4 Big conferences from everyone else. Even I had to admit the ACC had taken several PR hits here. That’s when I saw the first twitter reports of “Done Deals in principle” with […]
Plenty of positive reaction to the new ACC Orange Bowl partnership. » All Sports Discussion says:
July 3, 2012 at 6:52 pm (UTC -5)
[…] a few weeks ago when I said the ACC was losing the PR battle? My how recent weeks have changed perception. Today’s announcement that the ACC and the Orange […]
Plenty of positive reaction to the new ACC Orange Bowl partnership. | Sports Blog United says:
July 3, 2012 at 7:46 pm (UTC -5)
[…] a few weeks ago when I said the ACC was losing the PR battle? My how recent weeks have changed perception. Today’s announcement that the ACC and the Orange […]