ACC Football: 5 moves that would spark change in 2019

5. The ACC Network launches

The ACC Network has been in a digital only format since the 2016-2017 seasons. The ACC has been working on the secondary TV deals with Raycom Sports and possibly the Fox Sports Networks to acquire all of their licensing for games. Once live on cable and satellite, The ACC Network will be housed out of Bristol, Conn., but will have a home office down in Charlotte, N.C. Each school in the conference will provide material as well.

The SEC Network has been profitable mainly because of their passionate fans, quality content, and the genius that is Paul Finebaum. The ACC will have to find their mainstay talking head, like Finebaum, and I’m not sure if one exists with the pull of what he’s able to do in the SEC. If the ACC can find their Finebaum they have really fun programming both at football, elite basketball like UNC versus Duke and high quality college baseball.

The benefits of the conference network will be to legitimize the ACC as a Power 5. The Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12 already have their own. This opens up the ACC to more recruiting areas, puts more games on a national level, and is a selling point to parents hoping their student-athlete will have the exposure to play in the NFL. I can’t see a negative to having a conference network, even if it’s not as profitable as the SEC.