This is just a guess on my part but I have a feeling

One of the reasons why there was no triumphant announcement regarding an ACC Network is that everyone may be waiting for a big distribution agreement to either be signed or agreed to in principle prior to the release.

If things are moving forward as we have been lead to believe, there are probably some negotiations that are starting to take place between ESPN/Disney and the cable and satellite providers. ESPN has a number that they want to get for a carriage fee and they are likely floating it now to the distributors.

Here is the madness behind my thinking...

Nothing is worse than a big network announcement and then the person at the podium has to explain that currently nobody has signed on yet to carry the network. I assume that ESPN will want to lock up a big player or players - Comcast, TWC/Charter, or DirectAT&T, prior to the big reveal announcement. Comcast is a key player here since they own so may subs in ACC country. TWC is a big player in North Carolina and will want to be in on the mix too. Cox is big in Virginia, small in Georgia and Florida, but is likely not a big player at first. Direct is a big play as well.

ESPN made a huge blunder when it failed to secure Comcast for the Longhorn Network. That error still haunts them today. They will not want to make that same mistake again.

Posted: 05/13/2016 at 12:42PM

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This is just a guess on my part but I have a feeling -- CobbCountyHokie 05/13/2016 12:42PM

If this happens, espy/ACC wants a complete slam -- Mercury 05/13/2016 5:53PM

Comcast owns NBC -- East Cobb Hokie 05/13/2016 2:38PM

Duplicate message deleted** -- East Cobb Hokie 05/13/2016 5:39PM

Cox is a big player in Virginia -- mrcaniac 05/13/2016 1:42PM

Trust me, I know everything about the Cox footprint in Virginia -- CobbCountyHokie 05/13/2016 3:14PM

Subtract Salem off of that - Salem is Comcast** -- The_VT_Rock 05/13/2016 5:42PM

Good catch. That is indeed true. ** -- CobbCountyHokie 05/13/2016 6:37PM

My mistake -- mrcaniac 05/13/2016 3:25PM

Message Deleted** -- CobbCountyHokie 05/13/2016 3:16PM

How many subscribers are in current ACC footprint? What would you expect -- ColumbusHokie 05/13/2016 12:54PM

What happens when the cable subscriber model becomes obsolete? -- Old Line Hokie 05/13/2016 2:34PM

Content is still king. Yes the structure of how it is consumed may change -- ColumbusHokie 05/13/2016 8:22PM

Where do most folks get their high speed Internet service? -- seekoHoG 05/13/2016 3:05PM

Yes, for many. That doesn't change that Cable TV will likely become less -- jmanatVT 05/13/2016 4:00PM

Cord cutting has slowed down -- mrcaniac 05/13/2016 3:03PM

Your statistics are correct, but the culture change is likely still there -- jmanatVT 05/13/2016 3:59PM

38 million+ TV households in ACC footprint -- mrcaniac 05/13/2016 2:14PM

With those numbers I wonder what our cut would be? -- Hokies4Life 05/13/2016 2:33PM

My understanding is 50/50 -- mrcaniac 05/13/2016 2:47PM

Cox must consider Tidewater "in the footprint" of the SEC -- EDGEMAN 05/14/2016 10:05AM

I get that in Waynesboro on Comcast. I think thats how ESPN -- corvt2000 05/15/2016 09:29AM

This is just a guess on my part but I have a feeling

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