36 Louisville games to be carried on ACC Network Extra

The University of Louisville athletics department will broadcast 36 events on Atlantic Coast Conference Network Extra, the second-most originating telecasts, in the fall of 2016.

The conference's fall Olympic sports schedule that will be streamed on ACC Network Extra, announced Thursday, features 331 events on the new digital channel that debuts on Friday.

The coverage marks the initial phase of the full ACC Network announced July 21 by ESPN and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Live streaming of Olympic sports will increase annually, culminating with 1,300 total ACC events when the linear network launches in 2019. 

"We've looked forward to the launch of ACC Network Extra with excitement and anticipation since last month's announcement," ACC Commissioner John Swofford said. "ACC Olympic sports have a record of unparalleled success, and it was important to both ESPN and our league to create a model in which each of the ACC's 27 sponsored sports would be carried live to fans in some manner."  

The 2016 Fall Olympic sports schedule includes 354 total events involving ACC schools, with ESPNU scheduled to carry six contests and the Regional Sports Network an additional 17. Every conference Fall Olympic sport championship will be shown live on either a linear platform or ACC Network Extra, beginning with the ACC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 28. 

The events covered by ACC Network Extra will be immediately available to users who have access to WatchESPN and the ESPN app. More than 600 total Olympic sporting events -€” encompassing the Fall, Winter and Spring seasons -€” will be carried exclusively by ACC Network Extra during the 2016-17 academic year.

ACC Network Extra coverage begins Friday evening with four men's and women's soccer matches, and continues this weekend with seven additional soccer matches.