Television deals in the ACC, played a vital role in the conference realignment. From 2003 till 2010 the Atlantic Coast Conference agreed on television contracts with ABC and ESPN for roughly $258 million. In 2003, Boston College, Virginia Polytechnic University, and the University of Miami left the Big East for the ACC. The realignment was influenced by the effort to increase profits for those perspective University’s. In the Big East there was on outright conference champion, instead of two teams battling it out for the title. Conferences that has championships games for teams generate more revenue, and appeal to other television markets. ACC commissioner John Swofford felt that the expansion benefit all teams, “has done the job from a revenue standpoint. Our basketball revenue…show more content… Football is coming up” (Smith, 2008a, p. 27). The analysis and Swofford remarks coordinate hand and hand. In the 2003-2004 to 2006-2007 the gross conference revenue rose 44.5 percent, from $110.6 million to $159.8 million. Also the expansion allowed the ACC to upsurge its television income 60 percent, $37 million per season. Although gross income increased exponentially, the conference payouts barely stimulated. There were now 12 schools in the ACC instead of nine, and the currency is pooled by all the Universities.
Since the conference realignment, in 2010 the ACC renegotiated a new television deal with ESPN that is worth $1.86 billion over 12 years. The fresh deal doubled the league’s yearly television revenue, and gave ESPN syndication rights permitted Raycom Sports to broadcast games. The mega deal ended rumors of the ACC creating its own television network that would double the league's annual TV revenue when the contract begins in the 2011-12 season. It would also give ESPN
