Discover Orange Bowl Strikes Key Deal With ACC

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Discover Orange Bowl, along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, put the finishing touches on a deal to keep the ACC involved in the bowl for more than a decade.

The Orange Bowl announced a 12-year agreement with the ACC to feature the ACC champion in the bowl for the life of the contract. If the ACC Champion is playing in the new playoff, the Orange Bowl will take a replacement team from the ACC.

According to ACC rules, the second-place team in the conference would go to Orange Bowl; unless another team is within one game of the second-place team. Then the lower-ranked team could jump the second-place team.

In other words, if Florida State was selected to the four-team playoff and Virginia Tech and Miami finished second and third in the conference; and Miami was just one game behind Virginia Tech with their record; then the Orange Bowl could select Miami for the game.

The game will be held at 1 p.m. on January 1 when the contract kicks in after the 2014 season.

"The ACC and Discover Orange Bowl have a terrific relationship and, as we look ahead to the future of postseason college football, this will further an already beneficial partnership for both organizations," said ACC Commissioner John Swofford in a statement.

The Orange Bowl was still looking for an annual opponent to play the ACC champion in the game.

Multiple reports have since confirmed that the ACC will control the broadcast rights to the game. That means the conference, and thus the Orange Bowl, are now going to shop the broadcast rights to the game to the highest bidder.

Under the current BCS deal, ESPN controls all of the broadcast rights to the games (including the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl.)

But, the ACC/Orange Bowl could land a major new television deal to carry the game. The ACC could choose to go with ESPN, but if another network like Fox, CBS, or NBC wanted to pay more; the game would then appear on one of those channels.

Additionally, the Orange Bowl said it would host at least four semifinal games in the new playoff structure still being worked out by the conference commissioners.

When the Orange Bowl serves as a semifinal host, the ACC champion would then be sent to one of three host bowls established by the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee.