The presumed ACC Network has a real issue to overcome: the syndication deal with Raycom which lasts until 2027.
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That was perhaps shortsighted, but why in the world did they give Raycom digital rights?
We're not smart enough to foresee exactly how the digital side will develop, but most people who have paid attention for the last 10 years or so understood that video was moving to the Web.
This has never been a strength for the ACC though. We can't even remember what year it was now, but with Nando.net and Barry Jacobs, we helped put together a pioneering Web presence which was intended to be a fresh weekly or bi-weekly update on ACC basketball.
Getting help from the conference was a waste of time. They had no vision, no understanding that we were doing something which could have been profoundly helpful to them from that point until now. We tried hard to do basic things like get up-to-date stats, and the conference wasn't interested and in fact was generally hostile. One person, who we won't shame here, actually cursed us and said "I don't have time for you Internet people."
Well, apparently that hasn't changed. The conference continues to be shortsighted and frankly stupid.
This is the most exciting time for any sort of video sent online. With cord-cutting and TV clearly overdue for a simplifying overhaul, with broadband speeds growing ever faster, with the ability to package stats, social media and things most of us haven't yet considered, along with the now-standard advances in computing power, you don't need a cable network; you have global reach without it. Even if they have to wait several years for a cable network, the ACC has a chance to build a profound digital presence, which is where things are going. They can be anywhere people have broadband. They have a chance to be first for a change.
Or at least Raycom does. And for a conference that was once pretty innovative, that's just unbelievably dumb.