ACC Closing in on TV Network Deal with ESPN

[King2b]

I thought ESPN3 and WatchESPN were the same thing.

It's tied to your cable account. I don’t have cable or direct TV account, so I get just ESPN 3 through my isp. I usually watch the games delayed at night when they become available. May have to spring for a subscription. Wish I could get a streaming ESPN or acc network account only. Charge me $5 a month or so I'd be in.

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[jeffgt14]

ESPN3 is essentially an internet only ESPN channel (multiple channels really) available to anyone with an account to some cable/satellite/SlingTV/PS Vue. WatchESPN is an app the gives you access to watch ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3..., SEC Network, ACC Network.... Basically WatchESPN gives you access to channels you already have access to with your cable provider including ESPN3. If you do not pay for SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPNU through your provider you cannot access them through WatchESPN.

 

[jeffgt14]

It's tied to your cable account. I don’t have cable or direct TV account, so I get just ESPN 3 through my isp. I usually watch the games delayed at night when they become available. May have to spring for a subscription. Wish I could get a streaming ESPN or acc network account only. Charge me $5 a month or so I'd be in.

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$20 a month for sling TV is the cheapest you'd get. Most likely the $25 a month plan for ACC/SEC Network and ESPNU though.

 

[AE 87]

It looks like I'm going to be relying on the mercy of @BobintheATL99 more than ever this year.

 

[dmurdock]

From Brett McMurphy: ACC Network will launch by August 2019 & ACC extends conference grant of rights thru 2036, sources told @ESPN

That part would be dumb, unless the ACC gets to re-write the existing agreement and receives a record breaking per year team payout. That's waaaay too long of a window to lock parameters with the ever changing media landscape. Plus the fact that it seems like the ACC is getting better on a per team basis, and the SEC backlash is beginning, ACC runs the risk having a seriously undervalued media rights deal in just 5-10 years. There better be some kind of "market look in" period written into it if that's the case.

The grant of rights is the schools giving up their media rights to the conference, not the conference agreeing to a contracted amount with ESPN. It was initially done when there was a ton of poaching going on between the conferences. The grant of rights makes it financially unfeasible for an ACC team to leave the conference the way Maryland did.

The conference's grant of rights makes it financially untenable for a school to leave, guaranteeing in the 20 years of the deal that a school's media rights, including revenue, for all home games would remain with the ACC regardless of the school's affiliation.
http://www.espn.com/college-sports/...year-rights-deal-lead-2019-launch-acc-network
​

 

[RonJohn]

The grant of rights is the schools giving up their media rights to the conference, not the conference agreeing to a contracted amount with ESPN. It was initially done when there was a ton of poaching going on between the conferences. The grant of rights makes it financially unfeasible for an ACC team to leave the conference the way Maryland did.

The conference's grant of rights makes it financially untenable for a school to leave, guaranteeing in the 20 years of the deal that a school's media rights, including revenue, for all home games would remain with the ACC regardless of the school's affiliation.
http://www.espn.com/college-sports/...year-rights-deal-lead-2019-launch-acc-network
​

The fourth paragraph of the article you linked to states:

"the Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN agreeing to a 20-year deal and rights extension through the 2035-36 academic year"

So it does mean that the conference agreed to a contract with ESPN.

 

[Milwaukee]

They make it very confusing. They have some content that is based on your ISP, and some content that is based on your TV subscription. I haven't checked on it, but I believe 87's complaint is that ACC content is being moved from the ISP based subscriptions to the TV provider based subscription. If that is the case, it means that someone with an internet connection, but no paid TV contract that includes ESPN, will no longer be able to watch ACC games.

Oh I follow now. Yes, that's the only way I thought you could stream Watch ESPN was if you subscribed to a listed cable provider already. So nothing will change for me, I'm hoping.

 

[Milwaukee]

I didn't realize you could stream espn without a cable provider. Hopefully we all can get the ACCNetwork one way or another.

 

[AE 87]

Maybe someone could open a live stream thru YouTube and post an unlisted link here?

 

[GTrob21]

I have watched several of the ACC Network matches (soccer and volleyball matches) and overall am very happy. The quality varies from school to school, but I can see how this is a boom for the olympic sports. When the linear channel launches, it should also be a very good revenue stream.

Kudos to everyone involved.

 

[ramblinjacket]

I didn't realize you could stream espn without a cable provider. Hopefully we all can get the ACCNetwork one way or another.

You can't stream ESPN the channel without a cable tv provider. You can stream ESPN3 without a cable tv provider.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

$20 a month for sling TV is the cheapest you'd get. Most likely the $25 a month plan for ACC/SEC Network and ESPNU though.

+1 I cut the cable two years ago and this is my solution. Once you get away from commercials (Sling, Amazon, Netflix) you'll never go back. I tried watching the Olympics on digital antenna TV and couldn't stand the commercials. Lasted about 10 minutes.

Tomorrow's game is ESPN2 which is in the $20/month Sling basic package which also includes ESPN and all ESPN3 (except for blacked out games). When I need ESPNU, I'll add the $5 a month for additional ESPN coverage. But since the extra ESPN coverage features SEC ESPN, I cancel it on principle when I don't need it. The Vandy/USCe game last night was nauseating in how they couldn't go 5 minutes without saying how the SEC was the best football conference in the country. It's true but not as great as they make it out.

Has anyone used CyberGhost (or any remote VPN) to try and get around blacked out games? I tried it last year but the servers I tried in different countries were also blacked out ........

 

[jeffgt14]

+1 I cut the cable two years ago and this is my solution. Once you get away from commercials (Sling, Amazon, Netflix) you'll never go back. I tried watching the Olympics on digital antenna TV and couldn't stand the commercials. Lasted about 10 minutes.

Tomorrow's game is ESPN2 which is in the $20/month Sling basic package which also includes ESPN and all ESPN3 (except for blacked out games). When I need ESPNU, I'll add the $5 a month for additional ESPN coverage. But since the extra ESPN coverage features SEC ESPN, I cancel it on principle when I don't need it. The Vandy/USCe game last night was nauseating in how they couldn't go 5 minutes without saying how the SEC was the best football conference in the country. It's true but not as great as they make it out.

Has anyone used CyberGhost (or any remote VPN) to try and get around blacked out games? I tried it last year but the servers I tried in different countries were also blacked out ........

Yep I do the same thing just with PlayStation Vue. It's $10 more but I get all the discovery and TLC channels for my wife.