We wait and we wait for the ACC and John Swofford to make a more definitive ACC Network statement. It simply hasn’t happened, and it’s clearly not going to happen until John Swofford and the ACC are good and ready. I will continue to maintain that the ACC could make some more public statements about the ACC Network, but as I’ve said that just not going to happen. Until that time, we are left to analyze small tidbits on the ACC Network that come out at various times.
At the recent ACC Spring Meetings, there were some comments made by John Swofford, that we will look at. This story comes from the Orlando Sentinal where Swofford talked on a variety of topics including divisional alignment, a 9 nine game conference schedule, the college football playoff expanding, overseas league game, and below on an ACC Network.
On the future of the ACC Network
Swofford: “It’s in process. It doesn’t serve any real positive purpose for us to periodically give interim updates on that. The channel is a part of discussions about what’s the best route for us to go television-wise in the future with the league that we now have with 15 members, with our geographic footprint as a conference is the largest of any conference now. Those things give us opportunities, that previously we didn’t have. A potential channel is one of those. We anticipated it would be a two or three year stretch in getting to whatever endpoint. We’re right on schedule with that. Discussion is what we thought we would be at this given time. We’ve got a great partner in ESPN and together we think we can do some really good things. At some point we’ll decide we’re going to do something and we’ll make that known. We’ve got a ways to go, but we’re pleased where we are in the process.”
“When a conference has its own channel there’s more opportunity for non-live programing that is building a perception of the league and getting the facts of what your league has accomplished on a more regular and ongoing basis,” Swofford said. “That’s one of the appeals of going the channel route and why we have an interest in fully evaluating that as we move forward in terms of what’s next.”
That is the first I can remember reading any specific mentions of potential programming on an ACC Network, or Swofford making a fairly strong statement on the appeal of ACC Network. If you recall the topic of the ACC Network began in earnest in early to mid 2013, and now we are in year 2. As the
Pittsbugh’s Post Gazette speculates we may hear something by the end of year.
Swofford did say today that they expected the process to take two or three years from when it started.
This marks two years, so I would be surprised if there’s not some sort of resolution by the a year from now.
What we can take from this is that is no indication at all that the ACC Network discussions aren’t moving forward at a reasonable pace. Certainly we’d like to more about the details, and I think it benefits the conference to do this for the creation of positive PR, but was the SEC’s language all that different
just a year before it’s official launch announcement? No it wasn’t.
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