AAC Media Contract

[Exit 4]

Well yeah this isn't a + for football recruiting, but then again there were over 20 G5 schools in 247's top 100 football recruiting class this year vs our ranking which was worse than 120 (I wont say how much worse). This isnt a problem for football if we had some sort of guarantee that at least 50% of our games were on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU.

 

[Exit 4]

We already were a mid major. We do lead the other G5's, so in the immortal words of Anthony Michael Hall's character in "Sixteen Candles", we are the king of the dipshits.

Referring to your twitter post from BC fan...so a guy born on home plate decides to through sand.

 

[huskyinfl]

I refuse to buy ESPN+

 

[upstater]

This is what all the dinosaurs on this board don't get. 5 years from now there will likely be more people watching content "streaming" than subscribing to cable.

At that point, they will move the AAC to ESPNNews.

I subscribed to ESPN+ for several months before I quit. The tech was wonky (I would have to sign in each and every time) and there would be frequent blackouts for SNY (which I couldn't even get). And I'm a Roma soccer fan (Serie A is on +) and I still couldn't deal with it.

 

[UConnDad]

Have to take a break from this thread. Going to watch TruTV!

 

[BY06518]

This is just depressing and this is what happens when you chase a P5 Football dream in an area of the country that doesn't care for it and the area kids won't stay and play in.

It's time to cut the Football cord and save the Basketball brand. I know some will say keep up with the status quo until the next round of realignment but the writing is on the wall we aren't getting a P5 invite we need to be proactive in our mission to save the basketball program or risk becoming nothing more than an ESPN 30 for 30 in a few years.

 

[Exit 4]

This is just depressing and this is what happens when you chase a P5 Football dream in an area of the country that doesn't care for it and the area kids won't stay and play in.

It's time to cut the Football cord and save the Basketball brand. I know some will say keep up with the status quo until the next round of realignment but the writing is on the wall we aren't getting a P5 invite we need to be proactive in our mission to save the basketball program or risk becoming nothing more than an ESPN 30 for 30 in a few years.

So how smart will we feel 10 years from now when Buffalo, Old Dominion, Coastal Carolina or any number of G5 schools is eight years into enjoying our slot in the AAC?

Our problem is as much about people in CT hung up on themselves than about anything else. If Hurley got us into the tournament this year we'd hear a lot less drop football tantrums.

 

[StepbackCity]

Sadly I have season tickets for some reason

Are you serious, or just having a tantrum rn?

 

[Banta55]

LOL - ok chief.

Was Andre Drummond your source and the games all start at 11:11 on ESPN+?

The more ESPN+ subs than ESPN is going to age about as well as your ten million dollar guarantee.

Amazon - lol.

Does this mean the Memphis FOIA leaks weren’t fake? Remember I don’t know how that works...

LOL - ok chief.

Was Andre Drummond your source and the games all start at 11:11 on ESPN+?

The more ESPN+ subs than ESPN is going to age about as well as your ten million dollar guarantee.

Amazon - lol.

Does this mean the Memphis FOIA leaks weren’t fake? Remember I don’t know how that works...

Have fun moving the goalposts - are you CL82’s son?

We’ve always been talking about the TV contract - not tourney credits or bowl money.

If you want to believe that they had options for money with someone like Amazon but took a deal on ESPN+ for exposure... please stop insulting others as that’s an absurd fantasy that exists nowhere but in your mind.

This is the Boneyard - not the Penthouse Forum.

Whaler did you get picked on as a kid ?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

So how smart will we feel 10 years from now when Buffalo, Old Dominion, Coastal Carolina or any number of G5 schools is eight years into enjoying our slot in the AAC?

Our problem with is as much about people in CT hung up on themselves than about anything else. If Hurley got us into the tournament this year we'd hear a lot less drop football tantrums.

Indifferent? Why would we give one iota about those schools in the AAC?

 

[calluke]

I read it as “marquee games such as UConn-Cincy will be on one of those 3 networks but a vast majority will be Espn+”

Congrats. You apparently speak whale.

 

[upstater]

& they still draw more than FS2!

 

[Vuce]

Ok so school me on this young uns. I have directv with DVRs on each TV so I record every UConn hoops and football game. I mostly watch live but if I am not home I can pick it up later or pause while I am watching live. I have watched some UConn games on espn 3 but rarely. When we are delegated to espn+ can I record the game? Can I pause it and come back 25 min later to pick it up? I only have one smart TV. Will this be like 1979 just before cable and VCRs started?

And if I get this I will only be spending $30 a year. September through February. I ain’t paying those bastards at espn any more than I have to

 

[superjohn]

So how smart will we feel 10 years from now when Buffalo, Old Dominion, Coastal Carolina or any number of G5 schools is eight years into enjoying our slot in the AAC?

Our problem with is as much about people in CT hung up on themselves than about anything else. If Hurley got us into the tournament this year we'd hear a lot less drop football tantrums.

What?!?? That would be just like the AAC to add Buffalo, Old Dominion, and Coastal Carolina.

 

[Exit 4]

Indifferent? Why would we give one iota about those schools in the AAC?

Because you want to win. But instead too many people around here are hung up on other story lines.

Just win.

 

[Exit 4]

What?!?? That would be just like the AAC to add Buffalo, Old Dominion, and Coastal Carolina.

If we leave the AAC one of those CUSA schools or Buffalo from the MAC will quickly take our place. Yeah, thats reality.

 

[superjohn]

If we leave the AAC one of those CUSA schools or Buffalo from the MAC will quickly take our place. Yeah, thats reality.

You seem to be saying this like it's a good thing for the league. They should add Fairfield while they're at it.

Why would we care what other cr@ppy schools the league adds once we've left the league?

 

[BFieldHusky]

This is me speculating but with the ACC Network starting in the fall, ESPN will need content. So I still think UConn will be on the ESPN networks a ton. As will Memphis. Cincy. Houston. I think the games that will be on ESPN + will be your Tulane vs. ECU type of game. UConn will have some games vs them on ESPN +.

 

[upstater]

I think the biggest problem is the casual viewer that still likes walking into a sports bar anywhere in the country and seeing UConn on a TV, there is a familiarity with the program that still says; Hey UConn is on I will watch this. That is over now with this for any games on a damn streaming service. 12 years?

Did you completely miss the part where that's only half the package? UConn will be on ESPN and ESPN2.

 

[McLovin]

Because right now people don't think, hey I want to watch a basketball game, let me flip on Amazon Prime and see what's on... ESPN is still the king for sports.

Yeah and 5 years ago movie studios laughed when Netflix said they would start making exclusive content. Now Netflix has (roughly) the same market cap of all of Disney (which includes their parks, movie studios, ESPN, etc.). Times change and times change fast. ESPN is not still the king of sports.

 

[auror]

Ok so school me on this young uns. I have directv with DVRs on each TV so I record every UConn hoops and football game. I mostly watch live but if I am not home I can pick it up later or pause while I am watching live. I have watched some UConn games on espn 3 but rarely. When we are delegated to espn+ can I record the game? Can I pause it and come back 25 min later to pick it up? I only have one smart TV. Will this be like 1979 just before cable and VCRs started?

And if I get this I will only be spending $30 a year. September through February. I ain’t paying those bastards at espn any more than I have to

If you have a smart TV, I believe you should be able to use an ESPN+ app on your TV. Or you can get a third party hardware device such as a Roku, Apple TV, etc. and download the app to them. This would be how you get ESPN+ on non-smart TVs.

From the app, you will not need to record anything, you can just watch the event replay at any time.

 

[Fishy]

The contract is fine - it’s more money than I expected.

The decent UConn matchups will still be on the ESPN networks and there’s likely going to continue to be some CBSSN involvement for some reason. If you’re Tulane, every one of your games is going to be on +, but the higher profile teams will still kick around on the network.

 

[upstater]

The contract coverage is somewhat similar to what the AAC has now. Of course, it depends on the Tier 3 rights, which I don't know.

Let's look at UConn basketball in 2018/2019:

7 SNY/ESPN3 games (For me, that's ESPN3 as I don't have SNY in Boston)
8 CBS SN games

Look at Tulane basketball in 2018/2019:

9 games no TV
6 games ESPN3
4 CBS SN
1 Cox Sports New Orleans
1 ESPN+

USF Basketball in 2018/2019

5 games no TV
9 games ESPN3
5 CBS SN

Look at UConn football in 2018:
1 SNY
1 ESPN3
5 CBS SN
4 ESPNU
1 ESPN News


I really don't think the coverage is going to be that different, but ESPN3 and CBS SN games will probably now be on ESPN+.

This is the best post in the thread. Well done. A comparison is in order.

For me, I can't even get those ESPN+ games this year because SNY is similarly unavailable to me, and yet because some carriers have it in NY state, the games were blacked out. Couldn't watch them--unless I went to a sports bar with a carrier like DirecTV.

Let's imagine those CBSSN games convert to ESPN+ games. For some, this will be a loss. For half the fanbase that couldn't get CBSSN, it's the same.

Basketball will still likely have 15 games on ESPN, CBS, ESPN2 and ESPNU (mostly U).

The one that will likely be hurt is football. Unless they can cut a deal with SNY--which I don't see the point of.

 

[auror]

I totally disagree. You are not comparing the current contract between ESPN and the AAC and this contract. The coverage is very similar. The reason you may not think so is that many of the schools in the AAC already have many of their basketball games on ESPN3 and, unlike UConn, they don't have all of their games on TV. Yes, we will probably have no games on CBS SN. Basically, we will still see the same amount of UConn football and basketball games on ESPN networks as we do now.

But we're locked into the status quo for 12 years at a low market rate. That is the death sentence.
Well, we're not at least. The conference is. That's the nice part of no Grant of Rights.

So is the deal worse than current? In my opinion, I don't think so, no, even accounting for ESPN+. The slightly more $ is a good thing. Potentially being on ESPN2 instead of CBS SN is a good thing (with ACC moving stuff to ACC Network).

Is it a bad deal for the conference in the long-term? Yes. For 12 years, they needed to do better on the $. Just the inflation is going to render the contract closer to current day ~$4.5 mil by the end of the deal. Not to mention if any big streaming players do decide to get into live sports more seriously over the next 5-10 years, we're not able to take advantage.

 

[whaler11]

Whaler did you get picked on as a kid ?

Nah that lunatic has attacked me in a half dozen threads even though he has been as wrong as wrong can be.

I enjoy pointing out when those who claim
inside info make fools of themselves - a good number of people believe their claims otherwise.