ACC commissioner Jim Phillips ‘not worried’ about Duke’s Amazon deal undermining ACC’s deal with ESPN

It was announced in late April that Duke Basketball had signed a multi-year video deal with Amazon. In partnership with the conglomerate, Prime Video will exclusively present three Duke neutral-site non-conference games per season over the course of the contract.

In exchange for the flexibility to have ESPN games flexed to Amazon Sports, Duke agreed to participate in select additional ESPN-owned and operated men’s basketball neutral-site events across the 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons. Still, a small price to pay for a massive opportunity for the program.

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Duke navigating its way to lifting three marquee games against UConn, Michigan, and Gonzaga from ESPN to Amazon brought up questions about whether or not this venture will end up hurting the ACC’s deal with ESPN in the long run. In early 2025, ESPN exercised its option to televise ACC sports through 2036.

At this week’s ACC Spring Meetings, however, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips didn’t seem too concerned. “I’m not worried about it, because ESPN was in every one of the conversations,” Phillips said, via Front Office Sports. “To Duke’s credit, they came up with something creative and they brought it to ESPN and us. And where it finished and where it started, maybe it wasn’t exactly the same spot. But at the end of the day, they also negotiated and had to commit to some things that ESPN wanted, as our television partner.

“And a couple of games, obviously, are out of footprint and that allowed some movement there. I’m happy for Duke. It’s additional dollars into the conference — obviously, it’s going to Duke — and if there’s other opportunities that are out there, that schools bring forward, we’ll look at it. So I think it’s an innovative way by Duke.”

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Publish date : 2026-05-16 15:17:00

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