How long can the ACC Network last?
In the days and months before the coronavirus changed almost everything about life, that would have been a stupid question. The Big Ten and SEC had started their own networks and both were flourishing after slow starts. And the ACC is just as much a marquee league.
But the pandemic threw every form of business into chaos, unless your names were Amazon, Facebook and Google or you had millions to invest in those tech and commerce giants. Nothing else was immune, especially the multi-billion-dollar college sports industry.
Because the non-profit model was so favorable to expansion, money from television contracts, packed stadiums and multi-media rights holders kept doubling. And with 98 percent of the employees – athletes – not being paid and no stockholders receiving dividends, coaching salaries multiplied and facilities swelled.
The ACC Network hit at a bad time, and its comparison in advertising revenues, subscribers and social media followers are a fraction of the two bigger and older college networks. Watch an ACC Network broadcast, even in football and basketball, and you see little national advertising and more 800-number products pushed.
Critics are noticing the content that keeps turning hard-core ACC viewers away. Yes, the Big Ten and SEC networks fill up with lots of other programming, especially in spring and summer, but they know their audience wants to see and hear more football, year-round.
A Florida State-associated columnist blasted the ACC Network for its spring sports content after the NFL Draft where the ACC had the third-most players selected, including the No. 1 pick overall. The column questioned why the ACC Network’s prime time shows had a glut of guests from the so-called non-revenue sports.
“One would think the ACC Network would be going out of its way to emphasize football — the biggest money-making sport, by far, in college athletics,” the column said, pointing out the SEC Network featured NFL draft experts, Hall of Fame coaches and players, players and more players.
The ACC Network payout to the conference and schools has been less than projected, and owner ESPN is carrying the enormous debt. The question is, in this climate, for how long?
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