The SEC and Pac-12 won't be the only conferences with their own television network, according to a recent report. ESPN college football reporter Brett McMurphy broke the news Monday evening that ESPN is planning on partnering with the ACC, and will launch an ACC Network by August 2019.
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Per McMurphy, ESPN and the ACC have agreed to a 20-year deal, with a rights extension through the 2035-36 academic year.
The ACC also extended its conference grant of rights deal nine years through 2035-36 — meaning ACC members are financially binded, thus preventing them from leaving for another league, by nine years through 2036. The move also affects Notre Dame — if the school joins a conference for football in the next 20 years, it will have to be the ACC.
Given the lucrativeness of conference networks like the Pac-12 and SEC's, the ACC having ESPN in their corner will certainly make them more competitive in the future.
"When the ACC Network revenues are included, the ACC will be very competitive with the upper tier [Big Ten and SEC] of the Power 5 leagues," a source told McMurphy.
