SVG College Summit: ACC Athletic Departments Break Down Their Preparations For This Summer’s ACC Network Launch

Representatives from Louisville, Pitt, Virginia, and Virginia Tech share their challenges faced and lessons learned along the way

In August, the highly-anticipated ACC Network will launch, with a long and comprehensive buildout of on-campus media-production facilities completed by many of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 15 institutions.

Millions were spent on cameras, switchers, replay devices, graphics engines, comms, fiber, and much more. During a panel discussion at this year’s SVG College Summit, a few ACC athletic department representatives shred their experiences on what they have learned during this challenging process and offer advice to others looking to enhance their own internal video-production operations.

The conversation featured Eric Frey, Senior Director, ACC Network Operations at Virginia Tech, Kelly Hammonds, Assistant AD for Broadcast and Video Production at University of Pittsburgh, Jeremy Noe, Executive Director, ACC Network Operations at University of Louisville, and Mike Szlamowicz, Director of Video Services, Live Events and ACC Network at University of Virginia.

The conversation was moderated by Scott Hecht, Senior Producer for Syracuse University and this year’s chairman of the SVG College Summit.

Here are some highlights from the talk:

Frey (Virginia Tech) and Hammonds (Pitt) share some of the major obstacles they faced in their preparations and how they overcame them:

When making important (and expensive) decisions in their ACC Network facility plans, it was helpful to have an expert on board to help make informed choices. Noe (Louisville), Szlamowicz (Virginia), Hammonds (Pitt) shared their thoughts on the value of working with a consultant during their build-outs:

When undertaking a project of this magnitude, ACC institutions discovered many things along the way that they may not have considered before. Szlamowicz (Virginia), Noe (Louisville), Hammonds (Pitt), and Frey (Virginia Tech) all share their most important lessons learned from this experience:

During the ACC’s preparations for the launch of the ACC Network, much care and attention went into broadcast facilities being built on each campus. But what about the capabilities of the various stadiums, arenas, and fields around the campuses. Hammonds (Pitt) and Frey (Virginia Tech) break down the challenges they faced upgrading infrastructure at their venues:

The ACC Network is set to launch in August and video production facilities at 15 campuses are ready to go. Now what Szlamowicz (Virginia), Noe (Louisville), Hammonds (Pitt), and Frey (Virginia Tech) answer that question:

ACC athletic departments now are equipped with state-of-the-art video production facilities. But what about crew Hammonds (Pitt), Szlamowicz (Virginia), Noe (Louisville), and Frey (Virginia Tech) share their plans, which largely focus on student help:

Watch the panel conversation in its entirety: