http://www.dailypress.com/sports/teel-blog/dp-teel-time-swofford-2015-kickoff-post.html
One of the most respected ACC journalists around had an interview with Swofford and this is what his analysis is and more comments by Swofford.
Nothing I heard from Swofford and other league officials changes my sense that the ACC and ESPN will partner on a channel, with the most likely launch in 2017.
The answer is timing. Prior to adding Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame within the last two years, the league’s geographic scope – footprint is the buzzword – wasn’t conducive to a channel. Moreover, the ACC wasn’t performing in the sport that drives television demand: football.
But after Florida State’s 2013 national championship and appearance in last year’s inaugural College Football Playoff, and after three consecutive Orange Bowl victories, and after placing three teams – FSU, Georgia Tech and Clemson – in last season’s final top 15, the conference has more football momentum than in memory.
“I think the timing is coming in at a good point,” Swofford told me, “what our membership is and how competitive we are. … But another major part of it is timing in terms of the distribution and those deals (between ESPN and cable providers), which we have totally nothing to do with.”
Swofford does not believe those developments (ESPN cost cutting) will affect what he called ongoing “quality discussions” with ESPN.
“ESPN is our partner, and obviously you’re interested in anything going on with them,” he said. “What they would do with us, in theory, it’s a growth opportunity for them. It’s a revenue-generating opportunity, the channels that they do.
“They’re business people. When they go in that direction, they go in that direction because they think that they can make money. It’s an investment. I don’t think companies like that look at investments falling into the belt-tightening, cost-cutting area. It’s really sort of two different things.”
Also in the ACC’s favor: ESPN already teams with the SEC on its channel, and the infrastructure already in place at ESPNU and SEC Network headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., would minimize start-up costs.
Swofford has never wavered from a cautious optimism that a channel will provide such stability.
“That’s how I would describe it,” he said. “It’s not time to talk about it. It’s not time to define it yet. But your term, that’s a good term to describe where I am. We’re getting there. I’m very pleased. We’re where I expected us to be when we started jumping into this a year ago. Right on target.”
A lot of good stuff here. I also read a tweet by Teel that Swofford plays things close to the vest because he got burned by the VT/Miami/BC expansion being such a pubic spectacle.
One of the most respected ACC journalists around had an interview with Swofford and this is what his analysis is and more comments by Swofford.
Nothing I heard from Swofford and other league officials changes my sense that the ACC and ESPN will partner on a channel, with the most likely launch in 2017.
The answer is timing. Prior to adding Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame within the last two years, the league’s geographic scope – footprint is the buzzword – wasn’t conducive to a channel. Moreover, the ACC wasn’t performing in the sport that drives television demand: football.
But after Florida State’s 2013 national championship and appearance in last year’s inaugural College Football Playoff, and after three consecutive Orange Bowl victories, and after placing three teams – FSU, Georgia Tech and Clemson – in last season’s final top 15, the conference has more football momentum than in memory.
“I think the timing is coming in at a good point,” Swofford told me, “what our membership is and how competitive we are. … But another major part of it is timing in terms of the distribution and those deals (between ESPN and cable providers), which we have totally nothing to do with.”
Swofford does not believe those developments (ESPN cost cutting) will affect what he called ongoing “quality discussions” with ESPN.
“ESPN is our partner, and obviously you’re interested in anything going on with them,” he said. “What they would do with us, in theory, it’s a growth opportunity for them. It’s a revenue-generating opportunity, the channels that they do.
“They’re business people. When they go in that direction, they go in that direction because they think that they can make money. It’s an investment. I don’t think companies like that look at investments falling into the belt-tightening, cost-cutting area. It’s really sort of two different things.”
Also in the ACC’s favor: ESPN already teams with the SEC on its channel, and the infrastructure already in place at ESPNU and SEC Network headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., would minimize start-up costs.
Swofford has never wavered from a cautious optimism that a channel will provide such stability.
“That’s how I would describe it,” he said. “It’s not time to talk about it. It’s not time to define it yet. But your term, that’s a good term to describe where I am. We’re getting there. I’m very pleased. We’re where I expected us to be when we started jumping into this a year ago. Right on target.”
A lot of good stuff here. I also read a tweet by Teel that Swofford plays things close to the vest because he got burned by the VT/Miami/BC expansion being such a pubic spectacle.
