One other interesting thing of note - ESPN threw the pac 12 a life line by offering to take over the network to boost distribution in 2018. Pac 12 said no. Huge mistake . Second , ESPN wasn’t going to do a SEC network until the A&M expansion occurred. Prior to A&M ESPN didn’t feel like the network would be financially viable . Because the SEC network was such a home run ESPN was willing to double down with the ACC network .