On Wednesday afternoon, the ACC and ESPN announced a new 15-year agreement that is reportedly worth $3.6 billion. That comes out to $240 million annually, which means each school will be getting $16 or $17 million per year***. Some details from the ACC's release:
ESPN has been televising ACC content since 1979 and has exclusive rights to every conference-controlled football and men’s basketball game, plus women’s basketball and Olympic sports matchups, and all ACC championship events. ACC content is distributed on the widest array of multi-media platforms in the sports industry. ACC on ESPN highlights:
• Football on national TV: Extensive regular-season action on Saturday afternoon and nights, primetime Thursdays, three Fridays including Thanksgiving Friday, Labor Day Monday and the ACC Football Championship Game;
• Men’s basketball on national TV: The most comprehensive coverage of regular-season games and the entire conference tournament produced and distributed via ESPN; regular-season matchups of the storied Duke-North Carolina rivalry each year; full national telecasts on all games televised on an ESPN platform; a weekly ACC Sunday Night Basketball franchise on ESPNU;
• Women’s basketball: Numerous women’s regular-season basketball games and the entire conference tournament;
• Olympic sports: An extensive commitment to the league’s soon to be 23-sponsored Olympic sports with regular-season and championship telecasts, highlighted by baseball, softball, lacrosse, and men’s and women’s soccer;
• Digital media: Exclusive ACC football, men’s and women’s basketball, and Olympic sports games as well as simulcasts on ESPN3. Live ACC games, including football and basketball, on ESPN Mobile TV;
And here's a refresher on the last deal:
ACC signed 12-year, $1.86 billion deal in 2010. Syracuse and Pitt alone didn't drive it to 15 yrs/$3.6. The market is just absurd right now.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) May 9, 2012
That one came out to about $12 million per school per year, so we're looking at an additional $4-5 million per year under the new agreement. That's a nice improvement, but it still doesn't compare to the deals in place for the Big Ten, SEC, Pac-12, or Big XII. Additionally, the ACC's deal includes first-, second-, and third-tier rights, and some of the others do not. For example, Big XII schools can sell their third-tier rights separately and bring in a few additional million each year.
***Media outlets have been citing the $17 mil figure, but I think they're failing to account for the ACC's slice. $3.6 billion / 15 / 15 = $16 million per year per school.