AAC contract...

[Fishy]

A lot of good points have been made about staying with the AAC because it represents the best chance of getting a P5 invitation which is well and good. However, looking at Uconn as a stand alone entity without regard to the State's precarious financial situation is not realistic. I don't think there is the political will to just continue the subsidies to the University that existed in the past few decades. To think that we have lost the corporate headquarters of GE, UTC nearly Aetna etc. in addition to other corporate entities, retirees and many others should be setting off some bells that the CT is increasingly looking like a very poorly fiscally managed state that is hostile to business. I think that a more sober short term view of the sports scene at Uconn in this present financial environment will be the focus of both the university administration and the state politicians. For whatever reasons we missed out on P5 and there is no certainty that anything we might do in the next 5-10 years will change that. I don't share the AAC enthusiasm that others do as THE pathway to P5 nor do I think the powers that be do and thus NBE represents a viable alternative in the present state of affairs. Wish we were P5 but we aren't. Just my opinion.

If you want to know why UConn athletics and the state of Connecticut are both mutually screwed over the long term, read this. It's the kind of thinking that got both of them to their current depressing state.

 

[Brochacho]

My question is this:
If The Big East becomes even stronger and more popular with UConn driving the ratings, the basketball program returns to deep NCAA runs, and the football team (Independent) beats up on nobody teams while reducing the athletic deficit, does UConn not become more attractive for the next round of expansion?
As opposed to living in the basement of the fifth or sixth best football conference while the basketball programs sputter in front of 350 people, but the baseball team has a slightly higher RPI?

 

[uconnbill]

How do people not get that College Football runs the NCAA and the money. March madness is great, but again there is only so much money and if the NBA starts taking high school players after the next collective bargaining agreement that will hurt college hoops once again.
This is in my opinion a short-sighted move by the university to stop the bleeding.
The issue is that the AAC screwed UConn with SNY and it's keeping the rights.
Second ESPN once again screwed UConn and the AAC, but especially UConn.

Wishing ESPN+ would fail, but it won't as too many fans enjoy the content

 

[tzznandrew]

If The Big East becomes even stronger and more popular with UConn driving the ratings, the basketball program returns to deep NCAA runs, and the football team (Independent) beats up on nobody teams while reducing the athletic deficit, does UConn not become more attractive for the next round of expansion?
As opposed to living in the basement of the fifth or sixth best football conference while the basketball programs sputter in front of 350 people, but the baseball team has a slightly higher RPI?

This has to be their hail mary, right? And if it fails they still get the better basketball confernece.

 

[Brochacho]

This has to be their hail mary, right? And if it fails they still get the better basketball confernece.

That's what I'm thinking. Imagine if UConn remained in the AAC, the NBE went ahead and added teams leaving UConn on the outside looking in, while the P5 raids the AAC but doesn't take UConn? That's how you kill UConn athletics - not by leaving for the Big East.

 

[CL82]

The school is operating under the delusion that donors will make up the revenue shortfall.

Speculation? Because that seems like the kind of thing that you line of up ahead of time.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It's less money. Your math is too simple.

First off, it's $10,000,000 out the door.

The school is operating under the delusion that donors will make up the revenue shortfall.

I dont think UConn will pay $10 million out the door. The AAC exposed itself to fiduciary violations when it negotiated away UConn's SNY contract without UConn's approval. That may be enough for UConn to credibly threaten to void the exit fees, whrich would be a strong negotiating position for UConn.

 

[caw]

How do people not get that College Football runs the NCAA and the money. March madness is great, but again there is only so much money and if the NBA starts taking high school players after the next collective bargaining agreement that will hurt college hoops once again.
This is in my opinion a short-sighted move by the university to stop the bleeding.
The issue is that the AAC screwed UConn with SNY and it's keeping the rights.
Second ESPN once again screwed UConn and the AAC, but especially UConn.

Wishing ESPN+ would fail, but it won't as too many fans enjoy the content

I agree about college football and have been on the fence about this move bc this isn’t good for UCONN football. However, I think in the long run it’s probably for the best of money between BE and AAC is even neutral (buyout excluded).

There are only a few “likely” scenarios:

P5 doesn’t expand and stays in the NCAA (BE vs AAC seems to favor BE for UCONN basketball and AAC for UCONN football, pending further info on footballs landing spot)

P5 doesn’t expand and fully breaks away from NCAA (BE vs AAC seems to favor BE for UCONN overall football would be relegated to second tier forever either way here)

P5 doesn’t expand breaks away for football (BE has a pretty large advantage as now AAC football is basically FCS anyway)


P5 expands without UCONN (BE advantage, AAC is now likely missing at least one of Cincinnati, SMU, Houston, UCF, or USF, maybe Memphis as a far outside shot)

P5 expands with UCONN (AAC advantage, but this breaks rule #1 of expansion and perhaps with #1 the least likely scenario to ever play out). This is the one scenario every UCONN fan was praying for, but it isn’t exactly realistic, especially as time passes. I have to imagine UCONN doesn’t feel it’s realistic either at this stage.

 

[David 76]

I dont think UConn will pay $10 million out the door. The AAC exposed itself to fiduciary violations when it negotiated away UConn's SNY contract without UConn's approval. That may be enough for UConn to credibly threaten to void the exit fees, whrich would be a strong negotiating position for UConn.

Another $10,000,000 contract termination law suit?

 

[CL82]

Another $10,000,000 contract termination law suit?

Doubtful

Another $10,000,000 contract termination law suit?

Doubtful. Look for UConn to pay in full but try to negotiate the notice down from 27 months.

 

[uchusky32]

Another $10,000,000 contract termination law suit?

Yea, it should go as well as the KO lawsuit.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Another $10,000,000 contract termination law suit?

Unless UConn gave the AAC the right to both bind it to contracts and authority to override existing contracts, the AAC did not have the authority to sell UConn's T3 rights or break UConn's SNY deal.

It doesn't appear that UConn approved the ESPN deal based on Benedict's "no comments" in March.

 

[browndog319]

Nova and Georgetown were two of our biggest non-conference draws the last few years. Now we get to play them twice every year, plus possibly again in the conference tournament. You can think this isn't a good move, but you can't just discount the importance of playing conference games against teams people care about.

And let’s not forget our 2011 NC was won vs. Butler. That could be a fun rivalry. And they have some hoops success.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

The AAC football playoff distribution was about $2000m per team
Indy’s get about $800m
UConn also losses any NCAA BB revenue unless Big East allows us to a phase partially.
The revenue shortfall could be more significant than most believe.
I’m not in the know but the consensus was Fox was overpaying the NBE and the next contract could be worse not better..
Has something changed?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Nova, Marquette, Seton hall and UConn are 4 bids.

Gtown is looking like it's on the upswing with Ewing. Providence, butler and creighton are also capable of challenging for invites depending on the year

I would guess it's a 4-6 bid league year in/ year out

You forgot Xavier, which has been the best team besides Nova the last few years and just landed a strong recruiting class again.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I dont think UConn will pay $10 million out the door. The AAC exposed itself to fiduciary violations when it negotiated away UConn's SNY contract without UConn's approval. That may be enough for UConn to credibly threaten to void the exit fees, whrich would be a strong negotiating position for UConn.

There was a story that needs follow up by our press, suggesting that the three carryover Big East teams to the AAC, each had a clause in the original agreement that said that exit fees were reduced if any future TV deal was less favorable in either money or exposure. While this one pays us more, it eliminates external revenue we had. The exposure, with ESPN+ for some football and basketball, is worse. I’d like to know more about that.

 

[storrsroars]

Add lacrosse and make a name for ourselves in esports and any concerns about lack of football on enrollment will disappear. Maybe more nerds and less bros, but that's a good thing, right?

I go back to when we played Maine and URI at Memorial. We managed to have a good time.

 

[FriarJ]

These threads on this board are the easiest way of telling who has season tickets and who goes to the games versus those that do not.

 

[David 76]

Unless UConn gave the AAC the right to both bind it to contracts and authority to override existing contracts, the AAC did not have the authority to sell UConn's T3 rights or break UConn's SNY deal.

It doesn't appear that UConn approved the ESPN deal based on Benedict's "no comments" in March.

But the AAC could say previous conferences have screwed UConn and UConn did not fire them,so...

 

[upstater]

There's a certain level of delusion here about the future of the football team.

UConn made a desperate decision.

They chose even more financial bleeding than before in order to create some excitement around its marquee sport, men's basketball. Although the new BE is not as exciting as the old one, it is probable that there will be some excitement in the short term for a return.

UConn now loses out on the playoff bowl money payments and AAC football payments, so except the financial bleeding for football to be larger than ever before. You save on travel, presumably, but no one knows what the schedule will look like. With little TV money and no Playoff money, football will be hurting. And worse, the road as an Independent looks dire.

One way to save money is to end football. I think effectively they have already ended football. I don't see how they can continue it.

 

[uconnyankee]

My question is this:
If The Big East becomes even stronger and more popular with UConn driving the ratings, the basketball program returns to deep NCAA runs, and the football team (Independent) beats up on nobody teams while reducing the athletic deficit, does UConn not become more attractive for the next round of expansion?
As opposed to living in the basement of the fifth or sixth best football conference while the basketball programs sputter in front of 350 people, but the baseball team has a slightly higher RPI?

Yes. Next round of expansion, UConn can hope for invite to AAC.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Did you really just pick the 3 best AAC teams and 3 worst Big East teams and try to argue that people think the AAC ones are better than the Big East ones?
Stop.

Well people keep saying "Nova, Georgetown, PC instead of ECU, Tulsa, and Tulane so....

 

[Adios]

98% chance we were not getting into the P5? Wow. We're one of the richest and winningest G5 athletic departments but we only have a 2% chance. Sandwiched in between NYC and Boston, too.

Louisville suffered much worse than us and they still fought.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

I am less concerned about the revenue model of the new conference and football deal than I am with the intangible feeling we no longer have real aspirations to be in the power conferences. That hope dies with this move and we all know how hope matters when you are in Shawshank.

First, absolute props for the Shawshank reference.

Second, I haven't weighed in to this point because, like with almost every argument on the 'yard I can see and sympathize with both sides. The AAC seemed to be getting better year-by-year in both football* and basketball. There was a not-insignificant chance that enough AAC football teams would get good enough to challenge the power conferences in bowls regularly. Maybe not Alabama, Auburn or OSU, but most others were on the table for competitive games for Cincy, Temple, Memphis, Houston. Plus, rivalries and conference growth takes time.

But that AAC contract stunk to high heaven, and tied things up until 2032, no matter how good the football got. Ugh. And UConn is basketball first and second, baseball and field hockey and soccer and hockey third, and football fourth. The conference was always a marriage of red-headed step children, and while in the conference we were one of them.

Still, I agree on that intangible feeling. I have that too, and it's sad. Hoping that as an independent the school can schedule and recruit well enough to keep football going, and that a P5 eventually comes calling. There are a lot of schools that lose money on their athletic programs, but keep them going anyway for other reasons.

*except us

 

[gtcam]

Although the new BE is not as exciting as the old one, it is probable that there will be some excitement in the short term for a return.

Probable short term gain for possible long term pain
Don't know if that is the way to go but agree it may create more excitement around mens basketball
Also - I think Geno may have something to say about what is the Marquee sport at UConn!!!!

 

[Adios]

Wonder why the AD crticized the fanbase for not going to AAC in-conference games.

So we could look good to the Big East?

 

[That Guy]

98% chance we were not getting into the P5? Wow. We're one of the richest and winningest G5 athletic departments but we only have a 2% chance. Sandwiched in between NYC and Boston, too.

Louisville suffered much worse than us and they still fought.

I am a lifelong Connecticut resident, UConn alum, and die-hard UConn fan and even I can admit that we are NEVER, and I mean NEVER getting a P5 invite. We didn't receive one when we had one of the best periods of success for our school, we had just won a national title in MBB, our football program just came off a BCS bowl appearance, WBB was continuing to DOMINATE, and our academics were FAR superior to Louisville's. Even with all that we STILL couldn't get that invite. Few years later, B12 is thinking about expanding, they take a long hard look at us and say "no thanks". And here we are now with a MBB program thats fallen on hard times and the worst FBS program in the country and you still think that we are somehow getting a P5 invite in 5 or 6 years?! As much as it pains me to say this, Cincy, Houston, and even UCF are all much more appealing options for invites than we are.

 

[BRG 1]

A couple of thoughts.....

1. With UConn / Hurley coming to the BE I believe EVERYONE else will up their game recruiting wise. Now a recruit will come to UConn knowing he will play against his high school teammates/ childhood friends from the block twice a year AND in March in front of family in the Garden, not in another conference in front of nobody in a cavernous arena.
2. How many people on BONEYARD had a kid who went to UConn or PC or Villanova, nephew at Set on Hall, kid's best friend at GTown, etc.? I bet the best friend / nephew didn't go to Houston, East Carolina or UCF. So games in BE become family affairs, driving interest. Many fans/alums of all schools are boomers who are Nostalgic, driving interest. Finally many UConn friends told me they REALLY missed driving/busing to THE MECCA (Garden) and could care less about UCF or Memphis hosted tournaments. Olympic sports recruiting I believe will get a boost- another chance at going to a school competing in front of family and friends at top flight level.

 

[StunningSteve]

The NBE media deal had a clause that increased the value if an 11th team was added. Let's wait to see what the new deal looks like after everything is finalized.

It’s a pro-rata share. 4 million.

Also, it’s FS1 so the value of the exposure (eyeballs) is a value of the deal that isn’t quantified in many spread sheets.

In many ways the value of the exposure is worth much more (or less) than the monetary value on the deal.

 

[djct1999]

Yes. Next round of expansion, UConn can hope for invite to AAC.

Hopefully we say NO this time.