THURSDAY UPDATES
11:55 -- Swofford said he's "very confident" the revenue gap between the ACC and the SEC & Big Ten "will narrow considerably" after the new channel launches in 2019. Maybe not immediately, but within a couple years. And that's it for now. Will have story and more coming soon.
11:50 -- Said there could be some impact with the other bowls that are not involved with the college playoff. He hopes they all survive, but he thinks some might not. Could affect their bowl tie-ins when those come back up for negotiation in three years.
11:47 -- Said they're looking at the football scheduling for 2019 because "quality inventory" will be needed for new channel. Will push for more attractive conference games for early that season. But nothing decided yet.
11:45 -- On what the ACC channel will look like, he says it will be the same format as the SEC Network from a business standpoint. A linear channel for cable that will be adaptable to new technology ... just like what the SEC Network will do.
11:40 -- On the recruiting calendar changes and changes to no two-a-days -- both of which ACC coaches have been vocal against -- Swofford said the coaches are reporting that players would rather have two-a-days than come in to practice a week or so earlier (which is what some schools will have to do). He thinks they're going to have to go through this and see about making changes later. Thinks amendments will be introduced down the line to make changes.
11:35 -- Talking about the challenges of dealing with the changing media landscape, Swofford says he's "confident" based on how ESPN has always adapted well to deal with unknown changes. Says it's not necessarily about rights fees any longer. It will be about capitalizing on the new delivery methods and technology.
11:33 -- Asked about revenue growth going forward, Swofford said that's one of the reasons they're excited about the new channel. Believes that's going to be a big difference going forward.
11:30 -- Asked about the success in football and sustaining it, Swofford said everything is in place for that to happen. He thinks they're more balanced and strong throughout the league than ever. "There's no reason for us not to be."
11:28 -- Swofford says the collaborative instant replay for football was a great success last year. Now, he's opening the floor for questions.
11:22 -- Talking about how nice it has been at this meeting to have "normalcy" -- no expansion talk, no tv contract discussions. Just working on issues for the schools. Says that has been great after years of uncertainty and change.
11:20 -- Swofford still going on about all the success this past year. Football was best year in conference history. Basketball one of the best. Also Heisman Trophy winner.
11:18 -- Swofford says ESPN was here at meetings and offered "absolute" assurance channel is moving forward. Going "full blast" and on schedule.
11:15 a.m. Update -- Swofford is talking with the media now. Opens by talking about how great the year has been with Clemson winning football title and UNC winning hoops. Also the ESPN TV announcement and Grant of Rights last summer.
9:10 a.m. Update -- The ADs and faculty reps are meeting now and will make any votes or recommendations that came out of the meetings. I'll catch up with Stan Wilcox after that to see what he can tell me. Then we'll get to sit down with Commissioner Swofford later this morning for the full recap.
What usually happens there is he'll detail any major actions or votes that were taken. Then we get some time to ask questions -- and obviously, the state of ESPN and the ACC network and the gap in revenues between conferences will be the thrust of that conversation.
I'll probably tweet some updates from our Warchant account on Twitter and also will post updates and a full recap here.
WEDNESDAY UPDATES
10:55 a.m. Update -- Just caught up with Clemson AD Dan Radakovich about a variety of topics, including the TV deal with ESPN. He said the ACC has been told everything is still "full steam ahead" with their plans. "ESPN is very happy with where we are right now."
When asked if he and the other ADs are concerned about ESPN's recent layoffs and the "cord cutting" that is causing shrinking revenues for cable operators, he hinted that the ACC channel will follow a different business model. "I think the product that we're looking to pull together is very different." (Not exactly sure what that means, and they're not going to tell us yet."
10:25 a.m. Update -- The football coaches have broken out of their morning meeting, and it sounds like they just finalized their opinions on the things we wrote about yesterday -- that they don't like the new recruiting calendar (and December signing period), that they support the new proposal for redshirts and expressed concerns about targeting and other officiating issues.
The athletics directors, faculty reps and basketball coaches are still meeting. We'll have more coming soon, including comments from several coaches/admins about the "arms race" in college athletics and where things are headed.
TUESDAY UPDATES
5 p.m. Update -- Working on a couple things after we just spoke with Jimbo and other football coaches. We've posted video of Jimbo speaking here -- it's about half of the time he spoke with us. Most of the conversation is about NCAA rules changes and proposals ... that story will be coming shortly.
12:30 p.m. Update -- The football coaches are still meeting, and it looks like they will have a working lunch and will not break until like 4. In years' past, we would be able to get the coaches around lunchtime. So won't have anything from them until later this afternoon.
Just caught up with Stan Wilcox briefly during a break. Nothing major to report because the meetings have really just started. They won't take any action until tomorrow, but we did ask him some general questions.
* On what he's hearing about Atlanta's new Mercedes-Benz Stadium being ready for the season opener against Alabama, Wilcox said they've been told that everything is on schedule. Said they haven't even really discussed contingency plans of playing in the Georgia Dome. Fully expect game to be played in new stadium. "Everything is on schedule."
Story: Wilcox says Atlanta officials confident stadium will be ready
* On the new scoreboard going in the South End Zone, above the Champions Club, Wilcox said it's going to be in place before the end of the summer.
* I asked about the memo ACC Commissioner John Swofford sent to the league schools recently assuring them that ESPN still has every intention of coming through with a linear ACC cable television channel, and he said it wasn't really necessary. He said the schools are confident because they've been getting updates throughout the process that everything is still a go. He also insinuated there is info they've been told by ESPN, which hasn't been made public, which gives them that confidence. "We're very confident with ... the direction that they're taking."
We talked about a couple of other big-picture topics -- the arms race for facilities in college football and concerns about the college sports financial bubble bursting, etc. -- and I'll recap his comments in a notebook soon.
----------------------------------
Hey folks,
Just a heads up that we're here in Amelia Island, covering the ACC spring meetings. Will be catching up with Jimbo Fisher and some other FSU folks here in the next couple hours when they break from the morning meetings. Will also be talking with some other ACC folks over the next two days.
Any news will be posted here first, and I'll be following up with stories, etc. So stay tuned.
11:55 -- Swofford said he's "very confident" the revenue gap between the ACC and the SEC & Big Ten "will narrow considerably" after the new channel launches in 2019. Maybe not immediately, but within a couple years. And that's it for now. Will have story and more coming soon.
11:50 -- Said there could be some impact with the other bowls that are not involved with the college playoff. He hopes they all survive, but he thinks some might not. Could affect their bowl tie-ins when those come back up for negotiation in three years.
11:47 -- Said they're looking at the football scheduling for 2019 because "quality inventory" will be needed for new channel. Will push for more attractive conference games for early that season. But nothing decided yet.
11:45 -- On what the ACC channel will look like, he says it will be the same format as the SEC Network from a business standpoint. A linear channel for cable that will be adaptable to new technology ... just like what the SEC Network will do.
11:40 -- On the recruiting calendar changes and changes to no two-a-days -- both of which ACC coaches have been vocal against -- Swofford said the coaches are reporting that players would rather have two-a-days than come in to practice a week or so earlier (which is what some schools will have to do). He thinks they're going to have to go through this and see about making changes later. Thinks amendments will be introduced down the line to make changes.
11:35 -- Talking about the challenges of dealing with the changing media landscape, Swofford says he's "confident" based on how ESPN has always adapted well to deal with unknown changes. Says it's not necessarily about rights fees any longer. It will be about capitalizing on the new delivery methods and technology.
11:33 -- Asked about revenue growth going forward, Swofford said that's one of the reasons they're excited about the new channel. Believes that's going to be a big difference going forward.
11:30 -- Asked about the success in football and sustaining it, Swofford said everything is in place for that to happen. He thinks they're more balanced and strong throughout the league than ever. "There's no reason for us not to be."
11:28 -- Swofford says the collaborative instant replay for football was a great success last year. Now, he's opening the floor for questions.
11:22 -- Talking about how nice it has been at this meeting to have "normalcy" -- no expansion talk, no tv contract discussions. Just working on issues for the schools. Says that has been great after years of uncertainty and change.
11:20 -- Swofford still going on about all the success this past year. Football was best year in conference history. Basketball one of the best. Also Heisman Trophy winner.
11:18 -- Swofford says ESPN was here at meetings and offered "absolute" assurance channel is moving forward. Going "full blast" and on schedule.
11:15 a.m. Update -- Swofford is talking with the media now. Opens by talking about how great the year has been with Clemson winning football title and UNC winning hoops. Also the ESPN TV announcement and Grant of Rights last summer.
9:10 a.m. Update -- The ADs and faculty reps are meeting now and will make any votes or recommendations that came out of the meetings. I'll catch up with Stan Wilcox after that to see what he can tell me. Then we'll get to sit down with Commissioner Swofford later this morning for the full recap.
What usually happens there is he'll detail any major actions or votes that were taken. Then we get some time to ask questions -- and obviously, the state of ESPN and the ACC network and the gap in revenues between conferences will be the thrust of that conversation.
I'll probably tweet some updates from our Warchant account on Twitter and also will post updates and a full recap here.
WEDNESDAY UPDATES
10:55 a.m. Update -- Just caught up with Clemson AD Dan Radakovich about a variety of topics, including the TV deal with ESPN. He said the ACC has been told everything is still "full steam ahead" with their plans. "ESPN is very happy with where we are right now."
When asked if he and the other ADs are concerned about ESPN's recent layoffs and the "cord cutting" that is causing shrinking revenues for cable operators, he hinted that the ACC channel will follow a different business model. "I think the product that we're looking to pull together is very different." (Not exactly sure what that means, and they're not going to tell us yet."
10:25 a.m. Update -- The football coaches have broken out of their morning meeting, and it sounds like they just finalized their opinions on the things we wrote about yesterday -- that they don't like the new recruiting calendar (and December signing period), that they support the new proposal for redshirts and expressed concerns about targeting and other officiating issues.
The athletics directors, faculty reps and basketball coaches are still meeting. We'll have more coming soon, including comments from several coaches/admins about the "arms race" in college athletics and where things are headed.
TUESDAY UPDATES
5 p.m. Update -- Working on a couple things after we just spoke with Jimbo and other football coaches. We've posted video of Jimbo speaking here -- it's about half of the time he spoke with us. Most of the conversation is about NCAA rules changes and proposals ... that story will be coming shortly.
12:30 p.m. Update -- The football coaches are still meeting, and it looks like they will have a working lunch and will not break until like 4. In years' past, we would be able to get the coaches around lunchtime. So won't have anything from them until later this afternoon.
Just caught up with Stan Wilcox briefly during a break. Nothing major to report because the meetings have really just started. They won't take any action until tomorrow, but we did ask him some general questions.
* On what he's hearing about Atlanta's new Mercedes-Benz Stadium being ready for the season opener against Alabama, Wilcox said they've been told that everything is on schedule. Said they haven't even really discussed contingency plans of playing in the Georgia Dome. Fully expect game to be played in new stadium. "Everything is on schedule."
Story: Wilcox says Atlanta officials confident stadium will be ready
* On the new scoreboard going in the South End Zone, above the Champions Club, Wilcox said it's going to be in place before the end of the summer.
* I asked about the memo ACC Commissioner John Swofford sent to the league schools recently assuring them that ESPN still has every intention of coming through with a linear ACC cable television channel, and he said it wasn't really necessary. He said the schools are confident because they've been getting updates throughout the process that everything is still a go. He also insinuated there is info they've been told by ESPN, which hasn't been made public, which gives them that confidence. "We're very confident with ... the direction that they're taking."
We talked about a couple of other big-picture topics -- the arms race for facilities in college football and concerns about the college sports financial bubble bursting, etc. -- and I'll recap his comments in a notebook soon.
----------------------------------
Hey folks,
Just a heads up that we're here in Amelia Island, covering the ACC spring meetings. Will be catching up with Jimbo Fisher and some other FSU folks here in the next couple hours when they break from the morning meetings. Will also be talking with some other ACC folks over the next two days.
Any news will be posted here first, and I'll be following up with stories, etc. So stay tuned.
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