ESPN, ACC extend agreement till 2027

MUMBAI: ESPN and the US collegiate athletic league Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) have extended their exclusive agreement through 2026-27 which will now feature several new elements designed to bring added value to ESPN and ACC fans, including more title sponsorship rights, men?s regular-season and conference tournament basketball games, conference football games, and dozens more Olympic sports competitions.

The deal will provide premier content to numerous ESPN multimedia platforms, including ESPN, ESPN on ABC, ESPN2, WatchESPN.com, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN GamePlan, ESPN FULL COURT, ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line, ESPN International, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Classic and ESPN.com.

The conference?s planned increase to an 18-game conference men?s basketball schedule and the additions of Pittsburgh and Syracuse will bring an increase of 30 conference men?s basketball games per year and two more conference tournament games.

In football, 14 more conference-controlled games will be televised each year. Per the extension, ESPN has the right to televise three Friday ACC football contests annually which will include a standing commitment from Boston College and Syracuse to each host one game as well as an afternoon or evening game on Thanksgiving Friday.

Also, more women?s basketball and dozens more Olympic sports competitions will be covered on ESPN platforms representing the conference?s 25, soon to be 26, sponsored sports.

For the first time, ESPN has acquired title sponsorship rights, subject to conference approval, beyond football to all other conference championships including the men?s and women?s basketball tournaments. The ACC Men?s Basketball Tournament, televised in its entirety on ESPN networks and its syndication partner Raycom has never been sponsored in its 59-year history.

Disney Media Networks co-chair and ESPN president John Skipper said, ?This expansion and extension of our exclusive agreement brings tremendous value to our company and to ACC fans everywhere. We look forward to showcasing this premier conference across all platforms through 2027.?

?We are excited to have further enhanced our partnership with ESPN through the extension of our multimedia contract. We are proud that ESPN has invested so deeply in the ACC both from a resource and exposure standpoint. As we look to the future, this relationship will be tremendous for our schools, fans, coaches and student-athletes,? said ACC Commissioner John Swofford.

ESPN has been televising ACC content since 1979 and has exclusive rights to every conference-controlled football and men?s basketball game, plus women?s basketball and Olympic sports matchups, and all ACC championship events. ACC content is distributed on the widest array of multi-media platforms in the sports industry.