Should the ACC be afraid of the Longhorn Network?

Conference realignment season this year has been more interesting than usual as the Big 12 appears to be imploding, having lost two teams last year (Nebraska and Colorado)  and at least one team this year (Texas A&M) and potentially more teams (Oklahoma flirting with the PAC-12) and now there is talk that Texas is exploring the ACC as a landing spot if that conference does finally give up the ghost.

As a fan of the ACC and Virginia Tech I have a lot of thoughts on that, but for now want to concentrate on the Longhorn Network and how it might or might not fit into the ACC.  The Longhorn Network is Texas's own cable network, run by ESPN,  and is thought to be the driving force in tearing apart the Big 12 since the other Big 12 schools fear the revenue and exposure that the LHN would bring Texas would put them all at a long-term disadvantage (and they are probably right).

Would that be the case in the ACC, if Texas to the ACC even  had a realistic chance of happening?

The Longhorn Network's penetration into ACC country would be minimal

If Texas joins the ACC, I don't see cable systems in North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, etc., adding the Longhorn Network just because Texas joins the ACC.   I think the appeal of the LHN would be limited to Texas, Oklahoma, and that region.

That was a huge problem for other Big 12 schools because that puts the LHN in their backyards, directly affecting their local market position and recruiting.   But I don't think adding Texas would put the LHN into the backyards of other ACC schools, so that threat is not present.   And even if it did get onto cable systems in ACC country (perhaps because ESPN pushes it on or gives it away in those areas to help exposure), I don't see many fans in ACC country watching it.

It's worth noting that this also limits the upside of the LHN, since Texas joining the ACC would probably NOT mean significant LHN penetration into new markets.  

The ACC's exposure in Texas would increase with the Longhorn Network

Simply put, if Texas joins the ACC, then the LHN will be featuring a lot of ACC teams, when they play Texas.  This is pure upside for the otehr ACC teams, as it gives them exposure in Texas markets that they are not getting today.   And even if the LHN did show Texas high school football, the threat of which was the straw that broke the camel's back for the Big 12 (even though it didn't happen) that would not negatively affect ACC recruiting in the areas where league schools currently recruit.

Revenue inequalities are the biggest ACC problem with the Longhorn Network

One of the key tenets of the ACC is equal revenue sharing.  Lack of equal revenue sharing has been a main cause of instability in every conference I can think of that didn't have it:  the late Metro, the Big East, and now the Big 12.  Despite the advantages of having Texas, adding an unequal partner may be too high a price for the ACC to pay to get any school.     And we shouldn't think Texas would behave because the ACC saved it from conference oblivion.  Remember the Big 12 was formed as a result of the Big 8 saving Texas (and three other schools) from conference oblivion in the mid 90's as the SWC was dissolving, and look how that turned out for them.

Conclusion 

In my opinion, if Texas joined the ACC the Longhorn network would represent upside with little downside for the ACC in the areas of exposure and recruiting.  As a matter of fact I think joining the ACC would limit Texas' upside for the LHN, though that may also be the case with the PAC-12 and the Big Ten for similar reasons, if those leagues would even allow the LHN to exist.  This is probably why Texas's preferred solution is survival of the Big 12, because it's within the Big 12 footprint that the LHN really works for Texas.

But I'm not sure if I (or the ACC powers) would agree that upside would balance the downside of having an unequal revenue partner in the conference.  A partner that has blown up every conference it's touched, btw.

More: 

This post from Kristi Dosh, the SportsBizMiss has more on why/how the LHN could fit in with the ACC

In this post, Chadd Scott gives the opposite case.

Did you know Pink Floyd was named after a Chapel Hill blues musician?

There's always something to learn about the Piedmont area of North Carolina.  Yesterday I caught parts of a State of Things broadcast on WUNC while in my car.  They were discussing bluesman Floyd Council, who was born and lived in Chapel Hill and is buried in Sanford.  Today (Sept 2) would have been his 100th birthday.

This wasn't the focus of the broadcast, but it was mentioned that he is the Floyd of Pink Floyd.  Pink is SC bluesman Pink Anderson.  Turns out Syd Barrett saw their names side by side on the liner notes of a blues album  and liked the juxtaposition.  This is confirmed on Wikipedia, so I guess it was already reasonably well known but I didn't know it!