CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford says Clemson's recent run of success has been "great timing" leading up to next month's launch of the league's TV channel.
The Tigers have won two of the past three national championships along with four straight league titles. Speaking during his annual forum to start the league media days, Swofford said Wednesday it's impossible to measure the impact of that success as the ACC Network prepares for its Aug. 22 launch.
Clemson's opener against Georgia Tech on Aug. 29 will be the channel's first football game.
The league needs the channel to close a growing financial gap with its power-conference peers.
The ACC's 14 full-time members for the 2016-17 season received $26.6 million with football driving the revenues, according to the league's federal tax filings. But the Southeastern Conference which launched its own ESPN-partnered channel in 2014 distributed nearly $41 million per school that year and while the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 all averaged more than $31 million.