ACC, ESPN Finalize New TV Deal

It was first reported several months ago, and now its finalized: the ACC is finally on par with their TV deal.

The ACC's TV deal, which has finally gone to ESPN instead of Raycom, was officially announced today, though without specific numbers. The last number was reported at being about $155mil annually, which would account for twice as much as the ACC (and each team) receives each year.

TV income is one of the big money-makers in college athletics and was also a reason so many fans considered moving to the Big Ten, which had a massive TV deal and their own network. And while the ACC still lags behind the Big Ten and SEC, the TV deal is no longer an embarrassment when compared to those two. In fact, it's rather lucrative. So whoever the new AD is, be it Castiglione, Hathaway, or someone else, will have $6mil more to play around with than Debbie Yow did.

The new deal also means that we'll be seeing a lot more ESPN and a lot less Raycom, though which channel of ESPN is uncertain (pray not 360) and probably more Raycom than you'd rather see.

I went over the deal more in-depth the first time it was announced, so check that out if you're curious. Patrick Stevens answers some more questions about it, and Tomahawk Nation has the most comprehensive piece.