Gov. Roy Cooper sends letter to Swofford, ACC Network urging solutions with cable providers

Only in North Carolina.

With six weeks until basketball season tips off, Governor Roy Cooper is getting involved in the impasse between several cable providers and the ACC Network.

Cooper, who holds two degrees from UNC and regularly appears at the Smith Center, sent a letter to several stakeholders, including Commissioner John Swofford, on Friday morning urging them to reach agreements that will allow North Carolinians to receive the network in their cable packages.

"College sports are a way of life for many North Carolinians and they strengthen our state’s culture and communities, but many viewers are being shut out because of the current corporate contract disputes," Cooper wrote. "While I believe that the ACC Network can benefit our universities and the conference, we should not leave the everyday fan behind. If you lose them, you lose it all."

Warchant.com reported this week that Comcast, one of the nation's leading cable providers, isn't close to adding ACC Network.

“Some cable television and content providers have reached agreement and I commend them for that," Cooper said in a release. "I urge Comcast, AT&T Uverse and other providers who haven’t found a solution to push harder. And I urge ESPN, Disney and the ACC to increase their efforts to reach agreements with these providers. Fans of the ACC are depending on it."