ACC
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Learn How the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Uses AI in Its Digital Workflow to Cover Multiple Events Simultaneously on One of Its Busiest Days of the Year
Summary
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), home to 18 institutions and 28 different sports, is one of the most prestigious collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. With a jam-packed schedule of events, the ACC needed a game-changing solution to streamline content creation and distribution across multiple platforms, ensuring real-time engagement for millions of fans.
Building on its existing partnership of 7 years with Raycom and the ACC Digital Network, the ACC expanded its agreement with WSC Sports to include AI-powered content automation for all its schools, the first conference to do so. This partnership revolutionized how schools and conferences collaborate to deliver real-time highlights, maximizing fan engagement and content reach.
We joined the ACC’s content team at the 2024 football championship game between Clemson and SMU to see how their team uses WSC Sports to capture all the action from such a pivotal event while simultaneously creating real-time content for other sporting events featuring ACC schools occurring concurrently, including the start of the men’s and women’s basketball seasons, soccer, and volleyball.
KEY RESULTS
- 45m views on YouTube in 2024
- 40% rise in views on YouTube, YoY
- 180% increase in engagement on Instagram, YoY
- 37% rise in Instagram followers, YoY
Results are based on the success the ACC has had using the WSC Sports platform in creating content for all ACC channels throughout 2024. In this timeframe, the ACC created more than 17K videos, 11K of which were fully automated.
Since September 2024, when the ACC expanded its agreement with WSC Sports, through to the end of the year, the 18 ACC schools used the WSC Sports platform to create an additional 7K videos for their school’s digital platforms combined.
The Challenge
Managing Multi-Sport Event Coverage on the Busiest Day of the Year
The ACC’s content team faced the enormous challenge of covering multiple sporting events simultaneously on Football Championship day, one of their most prestigious and busiest events of the year.
Their key challenges included:
A High Volume of Concurrent Events: The ACC needed a way to easily capture and share highlights of every important moment across multiple sports occurring in different locations. On Football Championship Day, simultaneous ACC and NCAA events took place, including the opening day of conference play for men’s and women’s basketball, NCAA Soccer Championship and NCAA Volleyball Regionals—all in which the ACC had teams competing.
Timely Content Distribution: Reaching fans as quickly as possible on multiple platforms for maximum content views and engagement, without sacrificing quality.
Scalability and Brand Consistency: In addition to the ACC’s content goals, the 18 ACC institutions faced the same challenges: quickly and easily creating their own branded content to grow their own audiences. A seamless, efficient workflow was paramount for the ACC to deliver on all these expectations.
Watch the video below…
The Solution
Setting a New Standard With WSC Sports
To address the challenges faced by the ACC and its schools, the ACC expanded its long-standing relationship with WSC Sports to provide all 18 ACC member institutions with access to the WSC Sports platform.
Every action from any men’s or women’s ACC Championship events across 28 different sports are within the WSC Sports platform in real-time as each game progresses, allowing schools to build up a fully searchable video library. So now, the ACC and its schools have the ability to create and instantly distribute a variety of content from the biggest in-game moments to all digital channels, including their website, app, and social accounts.
This move by the ACC has set a new standard for college conferences across the country in how they create and distribute content, support their schools, players, and partners, and ultimately deliver the best experience for the fans.
Takeaways
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Multi-Event Coverage at Scale
What was once practically impossible for the ACC and its schools is now easily achievable—without increasing the team’s headcount or adding additional resources.
With multiple games from both the men’s and women’s leagues taking place at the same time and at different venues, the ACC can rest assured that every play from every sports event on the school calendar is captured, indexed and ranked in the WSC Sports platform in real-time, to be distributed across their digital channels within minutes.
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The Best Tech for Schools
The ACC was the first college athletics conference, including all member institutions, to form a partnership with WSC Sports. With the conference and its schools all working on one platform, they can streamline workflows and increase collaboration to amplify the reach and engagement of each other’s content. This avoids cannibalization, provides more brand exposure for each school, and lifts the entire digital content ecosystem.
Since September 2024, when the ACC expanded its agreement with WSC Sports, through to the end of the year, the 18 ACC schools used the WSC Sports platform to create an additional 7K videos for their school’s digital platforms combined.
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A Lasting Fan Connection
With WSC Sports, the ACC has strengthened its ability to connect with fans across all generations—alumni, students, and the next wave of young supporters.
By empowering schools to produce more content, faster, and tailored to each platform, the ACC ensures that every fan, no matter who they follow or where they are, enjoys a dynamic and personalized experience, building lasting loyalty in the process. This consistent stream of branded content not only amplifies each school’s voice but also strengthens overall brand recognition and unity across the conference.
