Touchdown For Cord Cutters: The CW Will Carry Raycom’s ACC Basketball and Football Games

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman

The CW announced yesterday that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Raycom to exclusively broadcast 50 ACC college football and basketball games starting this year through the 2026-27 season. The deal comes after Diamond Sports ended its agreement with Raycom as part of the RSN company’s bankruptcy reorganization.

For cord-cutters, the Raycom-CW agreement is good news. Diamond Sports’ Bally Sports regional sports networks required a pay TV subscription while The CW’s signal is available for free via a TV antenna in markets that can receive the channel over the air.

In addition, YouTube TV and Hulu Live, the two leading live streaming services, carry The CW while they do not carry Bally Sports.

The first ACC college football game on The CW will be the September 9th matchup between the Pitt Panthers and Cincinnati Bearcats. The network will broadcast ACC college football contests every Saturday during the season in primetime and the afternoon.

The CW will also air 28 men’s basketball games and nine women’s basketball games from December through February. Men’s doubleheaders will air on Saturday while women’s games will be on Sundays.

“We are thrilled to be adding The CW to our weekly television lineup for ACC football and basketball games,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said in a press release. “The CW’s national distribution will directly benefit our student-athletes, teams, alumni and fans. We appreciate ESPN and Raycom working together and look forward to the partnership with The CW.”

“We are committed to making The CW a destination for live, appointment-viewing sporting events,” added Dennis Miller, president of The CW Network. “The 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 broaden our audience.”

“The CW is going to be a terrific partner for the legendary ACC,” said Hunter Nickell, CEO of Raycom Sports. “The longest-running television relationship in college sports belongs to the ACC and Raycom Sports. Now The CW brings national broadcast network coverage to the great fans of these 15 famous schools.”

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