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The CW Network will broadcast the games every Saturday throughout the season
Begins September 9 with Pitt Football hosting non-conference opponent Cincinnati
July 13, 2023 (Burbank, CA) – The CW Network announced that it has secured exclusive broadcast rights to 50 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) college football and basketball games each season through 2026-27. The first ACC football game will air on The CW on Saturday, September 9, featuring a match between the Pitt Panthers and non-conference opponents Cincinnati Bearcats. Games will be broadcast every Saturday afternoon and prime time throughout the season. In addition to 13 soccer games, The CW will broadcast 28 men’s basketball games and nine women’s basketball games. These games are held in December, January, and February, with the men’s basketball doubleheaders being held every Saturday afternoon and the women’s basketball games being held on Sunday afternoons. Raycom Sports will produce all games for The CW.
“We are extremely pleased to add The CW to our weekly television schedule for ACC football and basketball games,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “The nationwide spread of the CW directly benefits our student-athletes, teams, alumni and fans. We value the collaboration between ESPN and Raycom and look forward to partnering with The CW.”
“We are committed to making The CW a destination for live, scheduled sporting events,” said Dennis Miller, President of The CW Network. “ACC is home to some of the most decorated college football and basketball teams in the country, and we look forward to welcoming these avid sports fans to the network as we continue to expand our audience.”
“CW will be a great partner for the legendary ACC,” said Hunter Nickell, CEO of Raycom Sports. “The longest standing television relationship in college sports is between ACC and Raycom Sports. Now, The CW brings big fans of these 15 famous schools nationwide coverage on broadcast networks.”
The ACC and its 15 member institutions have achieved incredible achievements, including:
- No other conference has won more NCAA national championships in the last two years than the ACC. The league has won 16 domestic titles over the past two academic years, including nine in the 2022–23 season, a league record.
- The ACC has won seven national championships in soccer, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and baseball since 2015. The ACC is the only conference to have won each of these four titles in this span.
- The ACC has had a team in either the College Football Playoffs or the BCS National Championship Game eight of the past decade, including two teams in 2020. The ACC has ranked the second most teams in the CFP since its inception.
- The ACC seeded nine teams in football postseason games in 2021. This was the 22nd straight season that the ACC received at least six bowl bids. Excluding the pandemic-hit 2020 season, the ACC has sent at least nine teams to a bowl every year since 2016. As of 2013, the ACC has ranked second among all conferences with 100 postseason appearances.
- The ACC men’s basketball teams have collectively won three of the last eight NCAA national championships and eight of the last 22 NCAA titles, and both are the most of any league. ACC teams have combined for the most NCAA men’s basketball tournament victories in history, and since 2015 five different programs have reached the Final Four, the most of any league. For the past two seasons, the ACC has maintained a 21-10 record, the best of any major conference.
- ACC women’s basketball programs have made 23 Final Four appearances involving nine different institutions and have made five Final Four appearances in the past five years. The ACC has 21 consecutive Elite Eight appearances and the most NCAA tournament wins since 2014. The league’s eight bids in 2023 were the most of any conference.
The CW acquired the rights to these live ACC soccer and basketball games from Raycom Sports, which sublicenses the rights from ESPN.
Via the CW network
The CW Network, LLC is one of America’s largest broadcasters, reaching 100% of US television homes. The CW delivers 14 hours of prime time programming per week in addition to sports and other entertainment programming and is LIV Golf’s exclusive broadcaster. The fully ad-supported CW app, with over 96 million downloads to date, is available free to consumers on all major platforms and is home to the latest episodes and seasons of The CW’s primetime programming, live streaming of its sports content, and a library of entertaining movie and television content for on-demand viewing. CW is 75% owned by Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), a leading diversified media company and largest CW affiliate with 37 CW and CW Plus affiliates serving 32% of the population. For more information about The CW, visit www.cwtv.com.
About the ACC
The Atlantic Coast Conference, now in its 71st year of competition and counting 15 members, has long had a reputation as one of the strongest and most competitive intercollegiate conferences in the country. ACC members Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest continue to build on the cornerstones upon which the league was founded in 1953 with a consistent balance between academics, athletics and integrity. The ACC currently sponsors 28 NCAA sports — 15 women’s and 13 men’s — with member institutions in 10 states. In August 2019, ESPN and the ACC partnered to launch ACC Network (ACCN), a 24/7 national network dedicated to ACC sports and league-wide original programming. For more information, visit theACC.com and follow @accsports on Instagram and @theACC on Twitter and Facebook (facebook.com/theACC).
About Raycom Sports
Raycom Sports, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a national leader in video content production, distribution, sales and marketing, and events management with over 40 years of experience and a reputation as a trusted partner. Founded in 1979, the company has produced thousands of live events from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Southeastern Conference (SEC) and other high-profile collegiate sports conferences. In addition, Raycom Sports has produced preseason games and specials for several NFL teams, highlighted by the company’s relationship with the Carolina Panthers. Raycom Sports is a founding partner of Family Entertainment Live, the family entertainment company that owns the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Tour, the Magic of Lights Holiday Lights Attractions and the upcoming Monster High Live Tour. Raycom Sports’ digital media team builds and manages ACC’s official digital platforms and has launched two 24/7 FAST channel brands; the ACC Digital Network and Origin Sports.
Raycom Sports is owned by Gray Media Group, the largest owner of premium local television networks and digital assets in the United States. Gray serves 113 television markets that collectively reach 36 percent of US television homes.