Great ammo for UConn in forcing AAC teams to open up Tier 3 rights | The Boneyard

Great ammo for UConn in forcing AAC teams to open up Tier 3 rights

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Flugaur: UCF comparing themselves with Cincy & Hartford in letter to B12 is no surprise. UC/UCONN were the favorites.

If Orlando and Houston and Memphis have so much more value than "Hartford" then these schools should have no problem having the AAC negotiate only 1st and 2nd tier rights with ESPN.
 
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Don't we have to wait for this contract to be up?

Espn owns the conferences tier 3 rights. It's like the ACC, espn isn't going to pay you for something they already own.

The good news is were close (r) to the end of the contract.
 
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Don't we have to wait for this contract to be up?

Espn owns the conferences tier 3 rights. It's like the ACC, espn isn't going to pay you for something they already own.

The good news is were close (r) to the end of the contract.

Yes, I'm saying to the other schools that, yeah, yer right. Your markets are glorious. Let's prepare for the next contract when we get to market our own rights, and only men's bball and football are in the package for ESPN.
 

huskypantz

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I agree 100%, UConn should strongarm the other schools. If we're still around we can command 3-4 times our current tier1-3 just for our tier 3 with a standalone deal. No other school is even close.
 

nelsonmuntz

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I think most of the AAC schools are in the same spot as UConn in that they would be better off selling their content individually than through the league. The AAC whole is less than the sum of its parts.
 

HuskyHawk

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I think most of the AAC schools are in the same spot as UConn in that they would be better off selling their content individually than through the league. The AAC whole is less than the sum of its parts.

Yes, that's true for some of them certainly. There are a few with very little appeal, even regionally. But it's irrelevant, because we have a contract. I'd be better off if the mortgage company said I didn't have to pay the rest of the mortgage, but that isn't happening either.
 

Dooley

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If we are passed over for B12 expansion and are forced to have to settle in to the AAC, then hells yes, the first move I make if I'm at UConn is to fight tooth and nail to have T3 rights returned to each school. We know what our T3 rights are valued at because we have actually had them priced, negotiated, and paid as part of a signed contract.

Memphis says it brings the Memphis market (which is just jumping for college football content)? Okay, bring it. Cincinnati is the top draw in Cincinnati? Look forward to seeing your T3 contract negotiated. Orlando is 500x better than Hartford? Great, then UCF shouldn't have any issue with wanting its T3 rights returned. Houston is one of the top CFB markets in the country, so we're told, so UH will look forward to the opportunity of negotiating their local Houston T3 deal.

We signed two separate T3 deals that, combined, brought us over $9M/yr. We signed each deal in 2010 when the Big East was on life support. The changing cable industry and worsened conference affiliation will likely affect the value but it will affect the value for all schools who go into negotiations. Bottom line: there is no question we could separate ourselves financially for every single other G5 school who, coincidentally, are trying to separate themselves from us.
 
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Yes, that's true for some of them certainly. There are a few with very little appeal, even regionally. But it's irrelevant, because we have a contract. I'd be better off if the mortgage company said I didn't have to pay the rest of the mortgage, but that isn't happening either.

You realize that this contract is short-lived, right? First there's a look in which Aresco recently addressed. Not sure he wants to press things right now, but we are in that period. Secondly, we have 2 1/2 years to go.
 
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If we are passed over for B12 expansion and are forced to have to settle in to the AAC, then hells yes, the first move I make if I'm at UConn is to fight tooth and nail to have T3 rights returned to each school. We know what our T3 rights are valued at because we have actually had them priced, negotiated, and paid as part of a signed contract.

Memphis says it brings the Memphis market (which is just jumping for college football content)? Okay, bring it. Cincinnati is the top draw in Cincinnati? Look forward to seeing your T3 contract negotiated. Orlando is 500x better than Hartford? Great, then UCF shouldn't have any issue with wanting its T3 rights returned. Houston is one of the top CFB markets in the country, so we're told, so UH will look forward to the opportunity of negotiating their local Houston T3 deal.

We signed two separate T3 deals that, combined, brought us over $9M/yr. We signed each deal in 2010 when the Big East was on life support. The changing cable industry and worsened conference affiliation will likely affect the value but it will affect the value for all schools who go into negotiations. Bottom line: there is no question we could separate ourselves financially for every single other G5 school who, coincidentally, are trying to separate themselves from us.

Unless I'm mistaken, SNY hasn't dropped the per month subscriber fee, has it?
 
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Its amazing on the one hand a person argues GORs are rock solid. On the other hand ESPN should give us more money because "were worth it". We have a contract, that thankfully is halfway through. UConn's athletic subsidy is in line with everyone they are competing with for a P5 spot. Gotta keep grinding.
 

junglehusky

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Yes, that's true for some of them certainly. There are a few with very little appeal, even regionally. But it's irrelevant, because we have a contract. I'd be better off if the mortgage company said I didn't have to pay the rest of the mortgage, but that isn't happening either.
You need a PLAN to get out of your mortgage. #FireHuskyHawk
 

pj

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Flugaur: UCF comparing themselves with Cincy & Hartford in letter to B12 is no surprise. UC/UCONN were the favorites.

If Orlando and Houston and Memphis have so much more value than "Hartford" then these schools should have no problem having the AAC negotiate only 1st and 2nd tier rights with ESPN.

At most 2 AAC teams (probably just 1) would welcome an objective appraisal of their media value, as would occur if schools marketed all their own rights.

And if only Tier 3 rights were marketed, other schools would say that, yes, UConn wins the women's basketball sweepstakes, but football where their advantage lies is in the Tier 1/2 contract.
 
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Its amazing on the one hand a person argues GORs are rock solid. On the other hand ESPN should give us more money because "were worth it". We have a contract, that thankfully is halfway through. UConn's athletic subsidy is in line with everyone they are competing with for a P5 spot. Gotta keep grinding.

How you reached these conclusions is a complete mystery.

Not sure how GOR applies to the AAC, you have me baffled on that one.

As for ESPN should give the AAC more money, I'm actually arguing the opposite. ESPN should give the AAC LESS money is the whole point of my post
 
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At most 2 AAC teams (probably just 1) would welcome an objective appraisal of their media value, as would occur if schools marketed all their own rights.

And if only Tier 3 rights were marketed, other schools would say that, yes, UConn wins the women's basketball sweepstakes, but football where their advantage lies is in the Tier 1/2 contract.

I'm not the one making the argument about their media/market strengths. They are.

I also heavily doubt this idea about football ratings in the contract. If you look at AAC football ratings, they don't do better than bball ratings for the AAC. For other conferences yes, but not for the AAC.

So give them Memphis v. ? and Houston v. ? on tier 3 in football.
 

nelsonmuntz

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Yes, that's true for some of them certainly. There are a few with very little appeal, even regionally. But it's irrelevant, because we have a contract. I'd be better off if the mortgage company said I didn't have to pay the rest of the mortgage, but that isn't happening either.

The contract is up in 4 years. If the AAC wants to be innovative, it needs to start planning within the next year for a post-ESPN world. I have not seen boo from Aresco that anyone is thinking that way.

To be completely honest, I bet every single AAC school would be better off taking half the revenue for a national contract, leaving a lot of content for Tier 2 and 3, and then selling the remainder on their own. I bet most schools would generate 2x or better what they currently get.
 
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How you reached these conclusions is a complete mystery.

Not sure how GOR applies to the AAC, you have me baffled on that one.

As for ESPN should give the AAC more money, I'm actually arguing the opposite. ESPN should give the AAC LESS money is the whole point of my post
Wasn't referring to your post. Sorry for the confusion.
 

pj

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I'm not the one making the argument about their media/market strengths. They are.

I also heavily doubt this idea about football ratings in the contract. If you look at AAC football ratings, they don't do better than bball ratings for the AAC. For other conferences yes, but not for the AAC.

So give them Memphis v. ? and Houston v. ? on tier 3 in football.

Yes, I know. I'm just saying your point is rhetorical rather than one that would actually be put into practice and proven. And maybe that was your point -- not that UConn could force AAC to open up Tier 3 rights, but that it can make other schools look like hypocrites by claiming superior media value while insisting on riding UConn's coattails.
 

Dooley

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@upstater is spot on. All of our AAC competitors are proclaiming things about their home markets - that it is a better CFB market than Hartford, that it is growing faster than Hartford, that nobody cares to watch UConn sports in NYC or Boston. I think that is excellent leverage for David Benedict to use in the next AAC media contract negotiations. Let's separate the sh 1 t from the sugar, so to speak.
 

CL82

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@upstater is spot on. All of our AAC competitors are proclaiming things about their home markets - that it is a better CFB market than Hartford, that it is growing faster than Hartford, that nobody cares to watch UConn sports in NYC or Boston. I think that is excellent leverage for David Benedict to use in the next AAC media contract negotiations. Let's separate the sh 1 t from the sugar, so to speak.
I don't think they all get in a room and debate the terms of the contract. Aresco tells them the deal and they vote it up or down. I think he is well aware that he took valuable rights from UConn and used them to get a better deal from ESPN, although he got exposure and not much more. Our only leverage would be to threaten to leave, which isn't going to be effective since, everyone knows that if we could go somewhere else, we would.
 

HuskyHawk

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You realize that this contract is short-lived, right? First there's a look in which Aresco recently addressed. Not sure he wants to press things right now, but we are in that period. Secondly, we have 2 1/2 years to go.

Yes, that's exactly what I have been saying. Staying put is the only option unless a P5 invite comes, at least until we know what the future AAC deal looks like. Bailing on it now would be nuts.

You need a PLAN to get out of your mortgage. #FireHuskyHawk

Yes, they can plan, but at present they have no data on what a new AAC deal would look like. So they can't do much. As it gets closer, and they start negotiating a new AAC deal, UConn must do what Nelson says and consider all options. We have to have leverage.
 
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I don't think they all get in a room and debate the terms of the contract. Aresco tells them the deal and they vote it up or down. I think he is well aware that he took valuable rights from UConn and used them to get a better deal from ESPN, although he got exposure and not much more. Our only leverage would be to threaten to leave, which isn't going to be effective since, everyone knows that if we could go somewhere else, we would.

The leverage would be refusing to sign away our T3 rights. If the contract ends and we don't have a GOR, the league can't empower itself to sell our TV rights.
 
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