The new ACC Network came with a lot of hype about eight schools’ men’s basketball conference opening games being broadcast exclusively there, but an overrun from a soccer game got in the way Tuesday. The Syracuse Orange men’s soccer team faced the North Carolina Tar Heels in a first-round ACC Tournament game Tuesday beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern, with that game broadcast on ACC Network. But unfortunately for fans hoping to watch the Miami Hurricanes-Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball broadcast (slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on ACCN), the soccer game went to extra time, and ACCN continued to show it, creating a lot of consternation (especially as the “ACC Network Extra” streaming option for basketball didn’t seem to work for many). Syracuse eventually won 5-3 on penalty kicks, but many were upset with the soccer broadcast running into the basketball:
https://twitter.com/rickbozich/status/1191861823093530626
Imagine scheduling all of these openers for college basketball for the ACC network and then STAYING WITH SOCCER PENALTY KICKS AND NOT PUTTING THE BASKETBALL ON.
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) November 5, 2019
'Bout to have my first ACC Network-fueled meltdown before the season even tips off.
— Mike Rutherford (@CardChronicle) November 5, 2019
Out and about and the ACC Network hates me again. It’s 6:35 fam…. pic.twitter.com/WELKQR08cc
— King Fiasco (@LJthaFiasc0) November 5, 2019
This cannot be true. ACC Network says it hasn’t started yet. https://t.co/exPUIorWbw
— Keith Poynter (@Villesportslaw) November 5, 2019
I’ve had enough of this lame ass ACC Network. Rush home to see the first tip of the basketball season. Soccer game is running over, but the Louisville game is streaming on “ACC Extra”. Cool.
Nope.
Just keeps telling me the game hasn’t started. Gd it shouldn’t be this hard. pic.twitter.com/JxRjJ2prnA
— James Goodman (@JGoodThreeTwo) November 5, 2019
There’s obviously a tough call to make with switching away from the end of a game for the start of another higher-profile game. But as many noted, this is why you want a quality alternate cable/satellite channel (which the SEC and Big Ten Networks have), not just a streaming alternative. And it’s particularly unfortunate that the streaming options provided for the basketball game didn’t even work. You can maybe get away with finishing something else on linear and offering the start of a new game on streaming if your streaming works, but if it doesn’t, that’s real rough. And this certainly led to a lot of complaints against the ACC Network.
