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Men's ACC conference basketball games to rise with network launch

Jason Szenes / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Thursday was an eventful day for the ACC to say the least.

ACC commissioner John Swofford not only announced that the conference will be getting its own network in a partnership with ESPN, but that the number of men's basketball conference games will be increased from 18 to 20, according to Steve Jones of USA TODAY SPORTS.

The increase will take place when the ACC Network officially launches in 2019, and the greater quantity of games will provide fans with a level of coverage never before seen in the ACC.

"You want as much really good content and programming as you can have," Swofford said. "The 20 games were appealing to a lot of our ADs and some of our coaches for reasons other than television - scheduling, fan appeal, financial aspects related to scheduling ... The consensus was pretty much that playing 20 conference games would probably enhance our NCAA tournament possibilities."

The network is part of an extension of media rights with ESPN that runs through 2036, and the conference extended the grant of rights agreement among its members through 2036 as well.

"In order to compete where our league expects to compete - and that's at the highest level - you've got to have stability in your conference and you have financial stability and you have to have exposure," Swofford said. "This agreement covers all that."

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