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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.
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