ESPN Locks in Bulk of Bill Belichick’s First UNC Season

CHARLOTTE — The rich keep getting richer. ESPN is already the dominant player in televising college football. And as a result of Bill Belichick’s decision to coach North Carolina in the ACC, its platforms will be the place to watch most of the Tar Heels’ action this year.

ESPN networks are poised to show 8, if not 10, of Belichick’s first games as UNC coach, sources tell Front Office Sports. 

In 2023, ESPN and Fox Sports fell over each other to televise Colorado games when former NFL superstar Deion Sanders took over as head coach. With Coach Prime prowling the sidelines, TV ratings for his Buffaloes games soared.

As the ACC’s primary rights holder, ESPN is hoping for a similar impact from Chapel Bill, but it isn’t ready—yet—to crown him.

“We have to wait and see. The potential is there,” ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions Kurt Dargis told FOS. “There’s definitely interest in him outside the typical college football fan. Deion was such a phenomenon. I still can’t believe some of the numbers we got that first year he was there. It’s too early to say.”

Before even coaching a game, though, Belichick is already bringing more exposure to UNC. The six-time Super Bowl–winning head coach has been the story of the offseason, due to his decision to return to the sidelines at age 73—and his May-December romance with 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson.

Last season, no Tar Heel games appeared on the flagship ESPN channel. But this season, ESPN has already slotted UNC into primetime matchups to open the season on Labor Day against TCU, and two midseason Friday night ACC matchups (Oct. 17 vs. Cal and Oct. 31 vs. Syracuse).

ESPN+ will exclusively stream The Hoodie’s first road game Sept. 6 at Charlotte. Meanwhile, ESPN-owned ACC Network will show UNC-Richmond on Sept. 13.

That’s 5 out of 12 games spoken for by ESPN platforms already. The rest of UNC’s TV schedule will be determined 12 or 6 days before each game, as is standard for college football. But most of those games are likely to also appear on ESPN platforms since the four letters just picked up its option to continue broadcasting ACC sports through 2036. ESPN and the ACC didn’t disclose terms when they reached a new contract in January. Their previous deal was worth $3.6 billion over 15 years. (ESPN has also owned and operated the ACC Network since 2019.)

But ESPN will have competition. Fox Sports could pick off the Sept. 20 matchup at UCF, since both Fox and ESPN are Big 12 media-rights holders. The CW network has a sublicensing deal to air some ACC games. So, a couple of Belichick’s Tar Heels telecasts could air on The CW as well. UNC doesn’t play at any Big Ten schools, so NBC and CBS won’t have a chance for any Tar Heel games.

In 2024, as UNC went 6–6 during the regular season, it played in just one game that drew more than 1 million viewers. That will certainly change in 2025. 

Looking at the fall schedule, ESPN has its “hopes and fingers crossed,” Dargis said, that the Oct. 4 Clemson-UNC game will be a big one. That could be an attractive spot for ABC to put Belichick on broadcast TV, and ESPN would surely love to take College GameDay to Chapel Hill that Saturday, if the competition warrants it.

At the box office, UNC has already sold out all season and single home game tickets, according to Brett McMurphy of On3. It’s the earliest sellout in school history.