When the ACC expanded a few years ago, adding Miami and Boston College to make it a 12 team league, two major media markets were also added. In the big picture, that made a lot of sense. The ACC would now be reaching two large population bases to promote increased league coverage along the entire east coast. Television plays a big role in this exposure. If you are asking national advertisers for big dollars and can deliver Boston, Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore and Washington, DC, along with the Triangle area of Raleigh and Charlotte, then the advertising rate you charge should increase. That’s a big positive – but there are also negatives. Most of the markets I have just listed have NFL franchises; some are represented by all four major professional sports. That’s a problem when it comes to getting attention from the media, which is the “straw that stirs the drink” for most sports teams.

I recall a few years ago as I was preparing for a broadcast of a Boston College football game, I would go to the Boston Globe website to find stories about the Eagles and then quarterback sensation Matt Ryan. If I found two stories all week I was lucky. That’s because although BC was headed to the ACC Championship game with a great quarterback, they had to deal with the attention given to the Patriots (NFL), Celtics (NBA), Red Sox (MLB) and Bruins (NHL).

The same goes for the Hurricanes down in Miami, But to be honest, in what I have seen, the Miami Herald and other newspapers in South Florida seem to give college sports solid coverage. Georgia Tech in Atlanta has to fight for its own share of attention with the Falcons (NFL), Braves (MLB), Hawks (NBA) and Thrashers (NHL). And let’s not forget the big media darling in Atlanta, the Georgia Bulldogs of the SEC.

When Matt Ryan was guiding BC to the ACC championship, the economy was strong. Today newspapers have fewer writers on staff to cover sporting events due to cutbacks and layoffs. A veteran writer told me a few days ago that the Atlanta Journal Constitution is down seven sportswriters because of the economy. As a result, the editors have to pick and choose which teams they will cover on the road. All this means that the ACC schools I have mentioned in these markets must come up with alternative ways to get the word out about their sports programs. While I can’t imagine not having a morning paper to read over a good cup of coffee, that day might be coming. The internet has become king and those schools that have put time and effort into a good website will have the edge over those that haven’t. There is always sports radio and local television, but that’s not always a positive either. I did a talk show in Charlotte for a couple of years and, trust me, the best shows were those done after the local team got beat. Everyone had a theory on what had gone wrong and wanted to let you know about it. As for local TV sports, put a stopwatch on how much time is given the sports anchor for his or her nightly report. If it’s a minute and a half they are lucky. We have slowly entered a new and challenging era in the coverage of news and sports and how the ACC and its member schools deal with it will help determine their financial success.

I will be in Boston this weekend calling North Carolina at BC for ESPN Radio. The Eagles still have a shot at the Atlantic Division title. I’ll let you know what page the game day story is on in the Boston Globe. I am sure the front page will still have something about Bill Belichick’s fourth and two call from last Sunday’s loss by the Patriots to the Colts. Check your local listings.

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