Crazy as it sounds, you may soon be catching the Noles and the rest of the ACC on the exclusive home of the NFL.
The Sports Business Journal is reporting that the conference has "reached out to the NFL Network" to see if there's interest in being the conduit for ACC Football and Basketball.
There's a word for this, of course. No, not greed. While the pro football cable channel, owned and operated by the NFL, has deep pockets, the operative word here is Leverage (okay, ultimately greed is involved).
The ACC is currently in negotiations to renew its contract with ESPN. The two parties have a 60-day window to get a deal done. If not, the ACC can shop its product elsewhere.
So taking a page from Negotiations 101 -- make sure the other party knows you have potential backup deals. And that's where the NFL Network comes in. Fox and Versus (an NBC-owned cable network) would also be in the mix if ESPN punts.
According to the publication, the ACC wants a healthy bump -- from the current $70,000,000 per year to as much as $120 mil. Of course, ESPN can afford to play it cool now that they have the SEC wrapped up for 15 years.
Will The Worldwide Leader in Sports cough up the mega bucks? Or will the Noles end up the Saturday filler for the channel that lives for Sundays? At least if the NFL Network wins out, maybe we'll see two of their mainstays -- former FSU greats Jamie Dukes and Deion Sanders -- on the ACC broadcast crew.
Comments? Questions? Kudos?