The Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN have agreed to a 12-year deal that would give the network exclusive rights to conference football and mens basketball games.

A person familiar with the agreement told the Associated Press that its worth $1.86 billion over the 12 years. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because financial terms were not released when the two sides announced the deal Thursday.

That would double the leagues annual TV revenue when the contract begins in the 2011-12 season. It would also give ESPN syndication rights that would allow Raycom Sports to carry games and maintain its long-running regional broadcasting relationship with the league.

Partnering with ESPN ends talk for now about the ACC following the lead of the Big Ten by creating its own television network. Commissioner John Swofford said the league did its “due diligence” by researching the issue, but said the ACC opted to avoid the upfront startup costs and the financial risk in favor of utilizing ESPNs in-place broadcast and multimedia outlets.

“When you go with somebody for that kind of money with no financial risk and they have the exten plus they have the technology and th it really begs the question: why would you need your own network?” Swofford said.

The agreement marks the first time the ACC has negotiated one contract to bundle broadcasting rights for football and basketball. The previous deal brought in an average of about $72 million in TV money annually, which t an average of about $6 million per school.

By contrast, the ESPN deal would bring an average of $155 million in TV money per year, an average of more than $12.9 million per school. Those payouts dont include money from bowl games, NCAA tournaments or any other revenue the league distributes to member schools.

Thursdays announcement comes after 15 months of negotiations and a season in which league schools won a record eight national championships, with Dukes NCAA title in mens basketball marking the ACCs fifth crown in 10 seasons. It also comes despite the national economic downturn and the recent possibility o which ultimately amounted only to a handful of schools.

“We have been stable, are stable, and I think this [deal] will enhance that,” Swofford said.

In a conference call with reporters, ESPN executive vice president of content John Skipper said there are provisions in the agreement pertaining to future ACC realignment, though he said the deal would remain in place regardless of whether the league gained or lost schools.

“This is the first time we at ESPN have basically done an all-in deal with a conference where we worked to be able to acquire all their product,” Skipper said. “I think that speaks to how much we value the product thats in the ACC.”

For football, on Saturdays, Thursday nights and Labor Day on one of its channels or online. ESPN would also carry the leagues championship game.

In mens basketball, the network would carry all league games in the same fashion. The deal would also include the entire womens basketball tournament and more non-revenue sports.

ESPN, which said some games would appear through its partnership with ABC, said there will also be some game simulcasts through its mobile service and there will no longer be local blackouts for games that are also being broadcast regionally.

“Were offering fans a choice,” Skipper said. “They can watch Raycom or they can watch ESPN and we believe well see the overall rating go up.”

Posted on July 9th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: College football news, NCAA college football