ESPN has announced that the ACC Network will broadcast 40 football games, 150 men’s and women’s basketball games and 200 other live events in its initial season. Wildhack said the biggest difference for fans will be in the amount of non-revenue sports offerings that will be broadcast on cable television.
“One of the attributes of the network is the increased exposure for Olympic sports and women’s sports,” Wildhack said. “There will be distinct programming nights for volleyball, for field hockey, for softball, for tennis, etc. It’s really going to increase the exposure for Olympic sports and women’s sports. I think that’s great in terms of connecting with our fanbase, and I think we can also use that obviously as a recruiting tool and we will.”
He expects soccer to have a prominent role on Sundays, when it won’t be competing for attention with college football.
“Weekends, Sunday, you’ll see a lot of soccer in the Fall,” Wildhack said. “Volleyball, you’ll see weekend events, but you’ll also week nights as well. That’s relatively consistent with what we’ve done in the past so it’s not a dramatic change in the competition schedule.”
The women’s volleyball team played just two games that weren’t on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday last season. Syracuse’s men’s soccer team played on four Sundays last Fall, while the women played on six.
“(The scheduling) will change some,” Wildhack said. “But I don’t think it will change dramatically. ... We want to do everything we can not to increase missed class time.”
ACC Network Extra will still exist
While the ACC Network will reduce the number of high-profile games broadcast on ACC Network Extra (which is streaming-only) it won’t eliminate the use of the option that has frequently received mixed reviews from customers.
The ACC and ESPN will likely continue to put a handful of attractive games on ACC Network but a reasonable way to think about the channel is to anticipate that it will broadcast the games that have traditionally been placed on local television and regional sports networks through the league’s Raycom Sports agreement, as well as some additional games.
For the most part, marquee games will still be placed primarily on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, with the ACC Network taking the next games in the pecking order. The least attractive football and basketball games will continue to be on ACC Network Extra.
(ACC Network Extra) will still carry some (football and basketball games),” Wildhack said. “When you look at the schedule, particularly non-conference, where you have more inventory, you need the overflow channel. The ACC Network Extra presents that opportunity. ... That’s still an important part. It’s there to complement and ensure that fans can watch every event.”
Non-revenue sports will also be broadcast with frequency on ACC Network Extra.
Link
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