"Get That Money......."

Ahh, the dulcet rhymes of Lil' Wayne. But it's official, the ACC did just that in agreeing to a $1.86 billion dollar, 12 year TV package with ESPN, according to the Triangle Business Journal. This is, quite frankly, a huge & very pleasant surprise. We expected something in the $1 billion dollar range over 12 years & got a huge boost with a contract of this size. Evidently we have Fox Sports to thank for the windfall as they bid aggressively for the deal. In the end, we're better off with ESPN as their multiple platforms (ESPN, ESPN2 & 3, ESPNU) give the conference more exposure. And we get Raycom along for the ride again. What would the ACC be without grainy 1970's picture feed & Mike Hogwood & Doc Walker rambling on about jack & shit? Wait, don't answer that.....

Doc Walker gives the ACC's new TV deal a thumbs up, especially since he can keep his gig with Raycom......

So what's this mean money wise for ACC members? Well, the deal works out to $155 million per year. Divide that by 13 (the 12 conference members plus the ACC office gets a share for administration, Swofford's massage parlor visits, etc....) and you get $11.92 million per year. Our previous contract paid the conference between $67-$75 million per annum (depending on who you believe) or about $5.76 million per year. In these tough economic times that's a huge boost to Tech & all ACC members. The impact of doubling our TV revenue will simply put be huge. To put the new contract in perspective, we now sit 3rd in TV revenue behind the Big Televen & SEC, whose member institutions pulled in around $22 million in TV revenue last year. We're not there yet, but we're certainly gaining. (The ESPN-SEC TV deal is $2.25 billion over 15 years or approximately $15 million per year. The SEC also has a deal with CBS that accounts for the rest of the income)

What specifically does the increased revenue mean for Tech? Well, it will greatly help an athletic department that has performed brilliantly on the field of late but has struggled financially (much of that attributable to past regimes). The renovation of Alexander Memorial Coliseum will break ground soon. And certain coaches with large roll-over contracts should take note......But most importantly, we will be fiscally solvent & able to pay down some of the debt incurred through stadium expansion, renovation, etc....

It's no secret we're not fans of ACC commish John Swofford. But we must give credit where credit is due......thanks Fox Sports! All jesting aside, Swofford did a fine job (with the help of IMG's Barry Frank) in negotiating a much better deal for the ACC this time around. Bundling football & basketball was a prudent decision as was creating some competition between ESPN & Fox. Remaining with the Worldwide Leader was a pretty easy decision because, well, they are the worldwide leader and offer the ACC the most exposure. While SEC fans will continue to spout their superiority that's fine; what we needed as a conference was an infusion of new money & that's just what we got. A good day for the ACC & a good day for Georgia Tech.....