AAC Media Contract details

[intlzncster]

Bolding the names/schools of the people who made this deal come together. No UConn. No USF. No Cincinnati.

But you know who's on it? The schools that just quadrupled their media money.


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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE COMMISSIONER MIKE ARESCO
Opening Statement
I first want to thank Jimmy Pitaro, president of ESPN, and Burke Magnus, ESPN's executive vice president of programming and scheduling, as you've just heard Bernie describe him, and his team of Nick Dawson and Pete Derzis for their support of our conference.

This is one of the best negotiations I have been involved in, and I have been involved in quite a few during my career. I also want to recognize and thank our conference leadership, the chair of our board, President Renu Khator of the University of Houston; our Vice-Chair David Rudd, President of the University of Memphis; and Gerald Turner, President of SMU, who chaired or ad hoc media committee. All have offered valuable counsel and support, as have our athletic director chair, Tom Bowen of Memphis, and vice-chair Troy Dannen of Tulane University. Our presidents and athletic directors have enthusiastically supported this agreement and the vision it represents for the conference.

Honestly this is laughable. Woof.

 

[intlzncster]

We don't own the rights to these games the league does. Because we are the only ones with even vaguely valuable Tier 3 rights Aresco didn't carve out a niche for them. The first part of Whaler's quote is spot on. We're not at the table because we aren't a party. (The second part is irrelevant.)

Or if you want the short answer: Rule 1

Ok, but what I want to know is, why are the schools mentioned in @zls44 's post (Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane) the parties driving the bus of the entire deal?

Why wasn't UCONN/Cincy et al right there too?

 

[zls44]

Honestly this is laughable. Woof.

They ENTHUSIASTICALLY supported it! He said that! And five hours later, one of the athletic departments released two statements dumping the thing right in the can! You cannot make that up!

 

[zls44]

Ok, but what I was asking is why the schools mentioned in @zls44 's (Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane) were the parties driving the bus of the entire deal?

Why wasn't UCONN/Cincy et al right there too?

The AAC chose to go into a major TV negotiation and not utilize the admins from the three schools with experience doing massive TV deals back in the Big East days or the admins at Navy who got them a CBS deal.

Instead, they picked people from four schools whose experience made a combined $12.50 before this deal.

 

[ASweet3781]

 

[ASweet3781]

 

[bobbyinaz]

They ENTHUSIASTICALLY supported it! He said that! And five hours later, one of the athletic departments released two statements dumping the thing right in the can! You cannot make that up!

So either Benedict didn't know what the details of the deal were and found out today with the rest of us or, he already knew the details and decided to send a smoke screen laying blame anywhere but on his doorstep.

I'm not sure which is a bigger problem.

 

[billybud]

UConn issued a statement that was fairly strong and negative.......While Tulsa is out front beating the drums on how great the contract is...

Instead of praising the deal and the growth of the American, UConn chose to go in a very different direction, stating that the deal has “certain exclusive components which we believe are not in the best interest of our fan base or representative of maintaining and building our brand.”

I assume that since UConn went on record as anxiously awaiting talks between ESPN and SNY....that the loss of SNY is an exclusive component.

 

[billybud]

“We see tremendous value in our relationship with SNY as it provides a great platform for the UConn athletics brand and helps us garner a significant amount of exposure in the nation’s No. 1 television market,” UConn said in the statement.

 

[djct1999]

I find UConn's statements very interesting and preemptive in nature. It had the tone of a high school kid who knew he was about to break up with his girlfriend. Seems clear to me. Go all in until the next round of realignment, see where the chips land, then make choices. I severely doubt UConn will be in the AAC, for better or worse, in 2027 and beyond.

 

[polycom]

Ok, but what I want to know is, why are the schools mentioned in @zls44 's post (Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane) the parties driving the bus of the entire deal?

Why wasn't UCONN/Cincy et al right there too?

Notice where all of those sports programs sit in the country, not sure if it’s coincidence but those places have huge sports markets. Houston also is the BSD in this conference, their sports are good they have a ton of money what Houston wants Houston gets.

 

[billybud]

Maybe...maybe UConn's squeaking wheel is intended to push ESPN towards a deal with SNY that both can live with.

ESPN has already stated that they have a year to work it out..and conversations with SNY will follow.

 

[polycom]

I find UConn's statements very interesting and preemptive in nature. It had the tone of a high school kid who knew he was about to break up with his girlfriend. Seems clear to me. Go all in until the next round of realignment, see where the chips land, then make choices. I severely doubt UConn will be in the AAC, for better or worse, in 2027 and beyond.

iOS press releases make you think this administration is ready for the next round of realignment? You have more faith than me.

 

[billybud]

One of the downsides of being in a conference is that it is the conference that negotiates media deals. An individual school is caught in the current for better or for worse.

When programs like Tulsa, UConn, USF, etc have diverse interests....some individual interests might not be served.

I saw that in the ACC....the creation of factions, basketball vs football....voting blocks, politics.

UConn is the squeaking wheel...as FSU was.

 

[GridironGR8]

Could somebody provide a simple answer for a simple guy? There is so much posturing from both the Aresco champions and the AAC-haters on the AAC forums that it is difficult to get a clear unbiased picture of what the new contract calls for. The way I am seeing this, it looks like whereas under the old media contract Tier III rights belonged to the school, but under the new contract ESPN owns all three tiers and can sub-contract if it so chooses. Is that correct? The bottom line being under the old/current contract UCONN makes it own Tier III deals with SNY and gets paid. Under the new contract ESPN gets paid if it shifts content to SNY?

 

[The Funster]

Haha, at least they didn't ask us to sign a GOR.

 

[billybud]

Haha, at least they didn't ask us to sign a GOR.

TRUE...

I have wondered what would happen if one school said "No" to a GOR while all of the others were ready to sign.

 

[freescooter]

WBB got 3x the ratings on SNY that MBB did this season.

That’s fine. For 15 games vs 5 and the 5 were dreck of the schedule. Not saying the women don’t have their fans but in the big picture nobody outside Connecticut really gives a crap about women’s basketball.

How many women’s NCAA games without UConn have you watched? How many nonUConn regular season women’s games? Name the top non UConn players in women’s basketball. Now go to Oklahoma and ask that question.

 

[gwhuskyfan]

Haha, at least they didn't ask us to sign a GOR.

I almost wish they did and forced UConn to make the decision. Maybe if the media deal doesn't allow for SNY will force the admin to do something. Maybe?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Maybe...maybe UConn's squeaking wheel is intended to push ESPN towards a deal with SNY that both can live with.

ESPN has already stated that they have a year to work it out..and conversations with SNY will follow.

It is how this game is played. UConn allowed rumors that we might leave for the Big East for a reason, as a warning. Now we are issuing similar warnings. They are statements to the media and not official positions in formal press releases by design. We have no leverage inside the conference, our only leverage is the ability to leave and ESPN's desire that we not leave. ESPN doesn't want to lose UConn content.

I think some people here believe we have options that are better than we do. A standard point in any negotiation is BATNA. Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. In this case, the AAC and ESPN (and UConn) have to evaluate what UConn's best alternative to this already negotiated agreement is. If our best alternative is worse than living with this deal, and it may be, then we have no real options. If it is better, or might be better, then ESPN will make sure they get something done with SNY and resolve our concerns.

 

[Rico444]

The way I am seeing this, it looks like whereas under the old media contract Tier III rights belonged to the school, but under the new contract ESPN owns all three tiers and can sub-contract if it so chooses. Is that correct? The bottom line being under the old/current contract UCONN makes it own Tier III deals with SNY and gets paid. Under the new contract ESPN gets paid if it shifts content to SNY?

This is correct.

 

[whaler11]

Could somebody provide a simple answer for a simple guy? There is so much posturing from both the Aresco champions and the AAC-haters on the AAC forums that it is difficult to get a clear unbiased picture of what the new contract calls for. The way I am seeing this, it looks like whereas under the old media contract Tier III rights belonged to the school, but under the new contract ESPN owns all three tiers and can sub-contract if it so chooses. Is that correct? The bottom line being under the old/current contract UCONN makes it own Tier III deals with SNY and gets paid. Under the new contract ESPN gets paid if it shifts content to SNY?

The last AAC contract gave the tier 3 rights to the league. However the women’s deal with SNY predated that contract.

Initially the money went to the league and was split, a few years in UConn lobbied and got the money back for themselves.

There wasn’t any doubt to me that at the end of that SNY deal those right ls were going back to the league - as most of these schools have rights worth 0 and this gets them a UConn subsidy.

 

[SubbaBub]

It's one game per week. 25 games from October to March.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The way I see it, there are 3 scenarios that UConn could consider:

1) Stay in the AAC. Slowly bleed out and die. Football is likely already dead, if Hurley is as good as we hope, we probably can retain some relevance for awhile. Women's hoops is buried as soon as Geno retires.

2) Drop football. Move Sports to the Big East. I think the Big East would welcome a UConn addition less a football program as they know there's no shot of them leaving and league maintains its cohesiveness. It's not the old league, but probably still has enough juice to keep hoops relevant, plus MSG come March.

3) Drop football. Move Sports to the ACC. No idea if the ACC would even consider this, but without our anchor of football, I think it could be mutually agreeable. I think season tickets for hoops would skyrocket given Cuse, Duke, UNC, Pitt, etc., etc., etc. would be on the slate.

I think football independence is a non-starter given that the Big East or ACC won't take UConn as long as it fields a football program.

At this point, I think it's probably: AAC 49.99%, Big East/Drop Football 49.99%, ACC/Drop Football .02%.

 

[whaler11]

The way I see it, there are 3 scenarios that UConn could consider:

1) Stay in the AAC. Slowly bleed out and die. Football is likely already dead, if Hurley is as good as we hope, we probably can retain some relevance for awhile. Women's hoops is buried as soon as Geno retires.

2) Drop football. Move Sports to the Big East. I think the Big East would welcome a UConn addition less a football program as they know there's no shot of them leaving and league maintains its cohesiveness. It's not the old league, but probably still has enough juice to keep hoops relevant, plus MSG come March.

3) Drop football. Move Sports to the ACC. No idea if the ACC would even consider this, but without our anchor of football, I think it could be mutually agreeable. I think season tickets for hoops would skyrocket given Cuse, Duke, UNC, Pitt, etc., etc., etc. would be on the slate.

I think football independence is a non-starter given that the Big East or ACC won't take UConn as long as it fields a football program.

At this point, I think it's probably: AAC 49.99%, Big East/Drop Football 49.99%, ACC/Drop Football .02%.

what no join big ten in 2023?