Remember, the Carolina mafia was sure to look out for Raycom. Raycom was forced down ESPN's throats and dealt a significant amount of content that should/would have ended up on an ACCNetwork. Heck, reaquiring that content is said to be one of the reasons we're now waiting till 2019. Brilliant move and the ACC schools aren't receiving a dime extra from them.

Furthermore, the reasons the SEC took so long is that the SEC had long term contracts that had been negotiated well before conference networks were even a thing. The SEC had already sold off any potential network content. Conversely, by the time the ACC was negotiating with ESPN in 09 and 10, the B1G Network was already nearly universally deemed a success. I recall the discussions about it on this very board. Anyhow, by 2009/2010, the SEC was clearly thinking network, they were just stuck in old deals that forced them to wait.

And about the Pac12 "consequences". Well, the Pac12 began moving toward a TV network when it signed a TV deal only months after the ACC. BTW, that deal was better than the ACC's to begin with. Anyhow, within a few years they had a network up and running. And the thing's been spinning off $10 to $20 million for the league for years now. That's $10 to $20 million more than the ACC's been receiving from a network. That's $1 to $2 million per school per year. Not B1G or SEC money, but VT could use some of that. VT could use the exposure too. Additionally, the thing was recently valuated at $300-$400 million. They can always sell off half and bring in quick cash and increased distrubution whenever they wish to pull the trigger. I'll take those "consequences" every day of the week as opposed to having Raycom making money off of similar content.

Finally, the Big12 is obviously run in a much more independent way. But, don't be mistaken and describe the Big12 as "spectators" in the network era. The Big12 actually has multiple networks. The upper tier Big12 schools, Texas and Oklahoma, are coming out golden through their own individual networks. BTW, Texas got its own network from ESPN not too long after the ACC signed its deal. And even the middle tier Big12 schools (WVU) score millions off of such deals. WVU has a deal that allows them to sell at least 1 football and 8 basketball games per year. Believe it or not, that's actually worth millions. And again, ACC schools don't have those options due to Raycom having been granted similar content.

http://www.wvusports.com/page.cfm?section=13101