Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[The Funster]

Do you guys think Tramel is pushing us so hard out in the open with the blessing of Oklahoma?

Yes, yes, yes.

 

[Exit 4]

After his second complimentary piece on us in two days, I'm officially on board with the "Oklahoma is pushing for UConn camp." There is no other reason that, with that data having been readily available to any writer for many, many months, he would all of a sudden be pushing us unless he has been tipped off that decision makers at the school he has connections at gave him a reason to.

Agreed. And what I think it means is that OK wants to add four schools and for the new schools to be ones that are best for their tv friends at FOX. I think its a sign that OK wants to make the conference work in the long haul, because landing elsewhere is not so assured in 2026. If landing elsewhere was assured, then just campaign to add any old regional options and be done with it.

TV matters firsts in the P5 arms race. Who can do better than use delivering more tv firepower? No one.

 

[MattMang23]

Agreed. And what I think it means is that OK wants to add four schools and for the new schools to be ones that are best for their tv friends at FOX. I think its a sign that OK wants to make the conference work in the long haul, because landing elsewhere is not so assured in 2026. If landing elsewhere was assured, then just campaign to add any old regional options and be done with it.

TV matters firsts in the P5 arms race. Who can do better than use delivering more tv firepower? No one.

Yup. Not sure on OU's chances in 2024 (I think I'm a little more optimistic on their chances than you seem to be) but as far as OU wanting four, and UConn being one of them, I'm totally in agreement. This is as sure a sign that that is what OU's agenda is as anything we have seen yet. This is clearly the "horse trading." OU is trying to get Texas to trade a vote for Houston for a vote for us. If only a two team expansion is on the table, Texas won't be getting Houston. Through Tramel, OU is signaling Texas that they will vote for Houston in return for a vote for UConn. And the only way UConn and Houston can get to eight is by a four team expansion.

 

[upstater]

There are actually a lot of pressure points here. Does Navy continue on if Cincy is gone and UConn threatens leaving? UConn and Navy played quite a bit prior to the AAC.

But if ESPN loses interest in the AAC, it is in a bad spot for eastern programming filler.

Also remember, ESPN has promised a certain number of AAC basketball games on ESPN and ESPN2. If Cincy goes, who are they going to show other than Connecticut.

Is UConn going to be on ESPN 23 times a year now?

This is some crazy stuff with a lot of pressure points.

 

[huskypantz]

There are actually a lot of pressure points here. Does Navy continue on if Cincy is gone and UConn threatens leaving? UConn and Navy played quite a bit prior to the AAC.

But if ESPN loses interest in the AAC, it is in a bad spot for eastern programming filler.

Also remember, ESPN has promised a certain number of AAC basketball games on ESPN and ESPN2. If Cincy goes, who are they going to show other than Connecticut.

Is UConn going to be on ESPN 23 times a year now?

This is some crazy stuff with a lot of pressure points.

It's almost not relevant if Cincy and anyone else from the AAC leaves. The contract is canceled but of course free to be negotiated. I would guess that ESPN has to pick it up because they need the content, but they're going to trim it down again.

 

[Hoophound]

I'm not sure they can. I think the remaining schools could simply tell them to suck it. They don't have any other options for programming and I'm pretty sure Fox would grab the AAC at $2,000,000 per year or even more. It is good football and it is cheap. They could bury ESPN. We might see FOX attempt to put them out of business.

 

[King Husky]

I'm not sure they can. I think the remaining schools could simply tell them to suck it. They don't have any other options for programming and I'm pretty sure Fox would grab the AAC at $2,000,000 per year or even more. It is good football and it is cheap. They could bury ESPN. We might see FOX attempt to put them out of business.

The problem is, ESPN gets way more viewers than fox does even on their auxiliary channels like ESPNEWS and ESPNU, so it elevates less popular content like AAC. Fox already has trouble with viewers as it is.

 

[Marty Jackson]

I'm not sure they can. I think the remaining schools could simply tell them to suck it. They don't have any other options for programming and I'm pretty sure Fox would grab the AAC at $2,000,000 per year or even more. It is good football and it is cheap. They could bury ESPN. We might see FOX attempt to put them out of business.

Yeah! $2m/year divided by 10!

 

[Slasher]

Tramel + the fact that everyone seems to be leaning towards two, leads me to believe like I've said for a while now it's going to be 2 with UConn and Cincinnati. They're the best two choices, and it's been obvious from the beginning.

 

[huskymedic]

Pure genius

Boneyardigans@UConnFanDotCom 2 hours ago
Expansion ‘experts’ on UConn: Tramel - Budgets, success, what are you now, etc. Others - It’s cold! You need a space ship to get there!

 

[jostar1]

Do you guys think Tramel is pushing us so hard out in the open with the blessing of Oklahoma?

Saw this posted on Landthieves:

"Borens feeding Tramel Uconn, we're being debriefed."

 

[huskymedic]

It's almost not relevant if Cincy and anyone else from the AAC leaves. The contract is canceled but of course free to be negotiated. I would guess that ESPN has to pick it up because they need the content, but they're going to trim it down again.

The option to terminate the agreement if certain schools leave is on ESPN. It doesn't appear to be an auto-term.

>>NBC Sports Network's contract divided the league into Group A (Connecticut, Cincinnati, Houston and Temple) and Group B (the remaining members), sources said. The media rights deal can be terminated if either two Group A schools leave or one Group A and one Group B school leave. If two Group B schools leave, the contract will be renegotiated, sources said. This does not include any schools that already have announced they are leaving, such as Louisville, Rutgers, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh or Syracuse.<<

 

[Hoophound]

I think we'd find ESPN would try and negotiate and the American would shop around if they wanted to lower the figure. You can't play competitively at this level on $2,000,000, let alone less. It was different when there were rounds of CR to go but if we are about to see a 9 year quiet period, the AAC schools need to make some money.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I think it's pretty safe to say ESPN won't allow the AAC to put their product on the open market unless they believe it is worth noticeably less than the current deal. If we are still in after all of this ESPN won't exercise their option to terminate.

I also believe that if we do leave the AAC without a bid to the B-12 (or another P-5) someone (Fox?) is underwriting our football independence.

 

[CardiffGiant]

More Tramel in a chat. A minor part of the chat involves Uconn.The guy is quickly climbing the charts as the most favored CR writer.He gets it.

Power Lunch Chat with Berry Tramel | NewsOK.com

 

[huskypantz]

The option to terminate the agreement if certain schools leave is on ESPN. It doesn't appear to be an auto-term.

>>NBC Sports Network's contract divided the league into Group A (Connecticut, Cincinnati, Houston and Temple) and Group B (the remaining members), sources said. The media rights deal can be terminated if either two Group A schools leave or one Group A and one Group B school leave. If two Group B schools leave, the contract will be renegotiated, sources said. This does not include any schools that already have announced they are leaving, such as Louisville, Rutgers, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh or Syracuse.<<

That's not the contract, it's the wording of a media statement. In my eyes, it makes no sense that the contract "can" be terminated if two group A schools leave but "will" be renegotiated if an A and B leave - I think it's a little more granular than that. The contract contains stipulations that ESPN no longer holds the AAC by the balls at the of the 19-20 season, I would not be surprised if renegotiating opens up the contract to other parties. If any school abides by the 27 month notice (admittedly not likely), that's going to take them into 2019, which also means that there's only 18 or so months left on the contract anyway at that point.

 

[FDNY99]

Do you guys think Tramel is pushing us so hard out in the open with the blessing of Oklahoma?

To write the 2 pieces he has the past 2 days..he got a call from the OU Athletic Dept to "sell UConn" to the OU fanbase. It's the only reason that makes sense regarding those 2 articles...Berry travel is the OU athletic Dept mouthpiece.

 

[FDNY99]

Is Tramel getting guidance from the OK admin to talk up their choice of UConn to try and improve the perception people have of them?[/QUOTE
Most definitely!!!

 

[Fishy]

To write the 2 pieces he has the past 2 days..he got a call from the OU Athletic Dept to "sell UConn" to the OU fanbase. It's the only reason that makes sense regarding those 2 articles...Berry travel is the OU athletic Dept mouthpiece.

Or, more likely, he came to the conclusions all by himself.

 

[FDNY99]

RE: The Tramel question, he's not writing these pieces unless he's hearing from sources that UConn has a real chance. To stake your reputation on pushing a school that so many in Big 12 country are skeptical of is a real risk.

That being said, I don't think he's getting these stories fed to him by OU, I think they are largely his pieces.

I'm gonna disagree with you on not getting the green light from OU on those pieces. He is selling UConn to the OU fanbase. He has been in UConn's corner from the beginning but not like this. These 2 pieces..especially the follow-up containing the AD budget numbers are unlike anything he has ever written before. They were written with a purpose and that purpose came from OU.

 

[huskymedic]

That's not the contract, it's the wording of a media statement. In my eyes, it makes no sense that the contract "can" be terminated if two group A schools leave but "will" be renegotiated if an A and B leave - I think it's a little more granular than that. The contract contains stipulations that ESPN no longer holds the AAC by the balls at the of the 19-20 season, I would not be surprised if renegotiating opens up the contract to other parties. If any school abides by the 27 month notice (admittedly not likely), that's going to take them into 2019, which also means that there's only 18 or so months left on the contract anyway at that point.

Do you think the granular contract uses the term "holds the AAC by the balls" in the stipulations you reference?

 

[FDNY99]

Or, more likely, he came to the conclusions all by himself.

Doubtful Fishy...not to have that sudden change so quickly. Remember he said UConn was a good choice if they expanded by 4..if it was only 2 it would be Cincy and BYU.

 

[upstater]

I think we'd find ESPN would try and negotiate and the American would shop around if they wanted to lower the figure. You can't play competitively at this level on $2,000,000, let alone less. It was different when there were rounds of CR to go but if we are about to see a 9 year quiet period, the AAC schools need to make some money.

Just as an FYI, the old BE contract stated that the exit fees would or could be lowered (renegotiated) if the media package was reduced.

 

[UCFBfan]

So today is a "up" day in CR emotions....this will last another day or so until we get 5 different articles/tweets making us all feel like we're out. God I hate CR yet can't stop following it! This needs to end soon and we need to be safe!

 

[mavblues]

Hmmm...

Dooley has been suspiciously absent at the exact moment that "Berry Tramel" writes not one, but two very positive articles about UConn joining the B12.

There's only two logical conclusions:

1) Dooley enlightened Tramel with one of his patented email blitzes. - or -

2) Tramel is tied up somewhere and Dooley hijacked his byline.

Come to think of it, where's conspiracy kitty?