The CW has extended its college sports coverage, sublicensing the broadcast rights to ACC football and men’s and women’s college basketball games through the 2030-31 season.
The long-term relationship brings to The CW 14 regular-season football games, 30 men’s basketball games, and 10 women’s basketball games each season. They will all be broadcast live on The CW, with a live stream on the ESPN App with the ESPN Unlimited plan.
Last season, CW broadcasts of ACC football generated 26% year-over-year growth in total viewers.
“The ACC has been a transformative partner at the forefront of The CW’s expansion into live sports,” said Brad Schwartz, president of The CW Network. “The conference was an early believer in our vision to become a broadcast destination for sports. We are thrilled to continue our relationship for another four seasons and provide the widest reach possible for all their games. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the schools and student-athletes, whose stories have resonated deeply with our viewers and helped make ACC matchups some of the most-watched live events on the network.”
“Extending The CW as a broadcaster of ACC sports via this sublicense agreement is a win for ACC fans across the country,” said Nick Dawson, ESPN SVP of programming and acquisitions. “The combination of these games being widely available via CW linear network stations while simultaneously streaming within the ESPN App via the ESPN Unlimited plan provides ACC schools terrific exposure and ACC fans maximum flexibility and accessibility, however and wherever they choose to watch their favorite ACC teams.”
