AAC upcoming TV deal will have huge ramifications for UConn, league

[Slasher]

This league is much more interesting if Memphis (and well us) get back to our peak levels. It’s a miracle that this league is still considered decent in basketball with its two most prestigious programs bring down recently.

1st and 3rd maybe. Memphis has zero national titles and just three final fours (one of which was vacated.)

 

[CL82]

And getting Tier 3 for us is huge. That’s a multiple over $3m.

When did they ever say the schools get t3 rights back?

Oh so who had it right?

The Huskies have a lucrative TV deal with SNY (about $1 million a year) and a media rights deal with IMG (bringing in about $9 million a year, and set to expire after 2017-18) that is one of the best in the nation. The SNY money had gone directly to the AAC and then split among all member schools, but UConn argued during recent conference meetings that it should keep that money. Athletic directors voted in favor of that proposal, and UConn will retain about $3.1 million over the next three years because of it

Mmm, kind of seems like @Pudge did. Just sayin.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The Huskies have a lucrative TV deal with SNY (about $1 million a year) and a media rights deal with IMG (bringing in about $9 million a year, and set to expire after 2017-18) that is one of the best in the nation. The SNY money had gone directly to the AAC and then split among all member schools, but UConn argued during recent conference meetings that it should keep that money. Athletic directors voted in favor of that proposal, and UConn will retain about $3.1 million over the next three years because of it

Mmm, kind of seems like @Pudge did. Just sayin.

It's essentially just the women's basketball money.

When we were in the Big East, the Tier 3 deal with SNY would include actual Big East Conference games for basketball and to a lesser extent football.

The league owns the Tier 3 rights, SNY gets the scraps, and the league allows UConn to keep its women's hoop portion.

 

[CL82]

It's essentially just the women's basketball money.

When we were in the Big East, the Tier 3 deal with SNY would include actual Big East Conference games for basketball and to a lesser extent football.

The league owns the Tier 3 rights, SNY gets the scraps, and the league allows UConn to keep its women's hoop portion.

Well that is where the value is I guess.

I think SNY would take any games that weren't otherwise broadcast if they could get them.

 

[whaler11]

The Huskies have a lucrative TV deal with SNY (about $1 million a year) and a media rights deal with IMG (bringing in about $9 million a year, and set to expire after 2017-18) that is one of the best in the nation. The SNY money had gone directly to the AAC and then split among all member schools, but UConn argued during recent conference meetings that it should keep that money. Athletic directors voted in favor of that proposal, and UConn will retain about $3.1 million over the next three years because of it

Mmm, kind of seems like @Pudge did. Just sayin.

We’ve been over this in other threads. They got the money back on the wbb deal that was signed before the AAC existed. There has never been any indication they have tier 3 rights back to sell beyond the end of this AAC deal. That’s why it says 3 million over three years.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Well that is where the value is I guess.

I think SNY would take any games that weren't otherwise broadcast if they could get them.

I agree that SNY would take any games they could get their hands on.

If it was like our older deal, they would be broadcasting the games that are now on CBS Sports Network. Those games used to be Rutgers, Marquette, USF, Depaul, etc., but now would be ECU, Tulsa, Tulane, etc. Nowadays? SNY is lucky to get Maryland Eastern Shore and New Hampshire.

Money aside, exposure wise, I guess it's better to be on a national platform in CBS Sports Network, but I liked how we were featured content on a NY Centric network.

 

[CL82]

We’ve been over this in other threads. They got the money back on the wbb deal that was signed before the AAC existed. There has never been any indication they have tier 3 rights back to sell beyond the end of this AAC deal. That’s why it says 3 million over three years.

Yeah missed them, apparently, but I agree that the value is equivalent to the WBB deal.

 

[StunningSteve]

Tomorrow I’ll be working on things with 2 and 3 more zeros than the AAC deal and he’ll be explaining to someone why they lost their shipment from newegg.

 

[Nostical]

The big streaming services are all bigger companies than Disney (ESPN) by market cap. Do they find college sports an interesting asset to expand? Remember when the Big East signed with a young company named ESPN back in the day? It was groundbreaking. Would they start with the AAC and then go after other conferences later?

Good post Jim. That was my thought, that Amazon, etc. might want to grab some of the AAC to begin proving their reach and value in contemplation of going after the bigger fish later.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I love when a dope tries to call someone out and is a complete fool.

Pull quote from Saturday night 10:43pm. Yep, "love." My Saturday gratitude listed out quite differently. This helps to explain why we do our little tug-o-wars.

Regardless of what some of our more delusional posters think - the next contract will be a function of the numbers of parties interested.

Make a case for a legitimate second bidder (nevermind third or fourth).

I suspect they will have two offers from ESPN. One that looks like today and one that keeps what is on linear TV on TV and moves the ESPN3 content to ESPN+.

I’d guess the first deal gets them 3-4 million and the second deal gets them 5-6 million.

Breaking it into a bunch of pieces would probably get them a few more dollars but is suicide from a competitive standpoint. The only thing the league has going for it is the deluge of games easily available on ESPN properties and ESPN having so many windows because so much has/will move to the SEC and ACC networks.

Helpful stuff at 9:56am the next morning, for which kudos are due. Makes it worthwhile for the casual fan to click on the thread after noticing it has some legs.

LOL - you don’t want to go down the professional background path trust me.

Sure he does. That's why he asked, and it's a fair question within a half hour of your confident post.

Other people want to know as well.

When did they ever say the schools get t3 rights back?

Is anyone other than me going to actually name a second bidder that is going to drive things to 120 million a year?

The absolute best realistic thing I can dream up is Sinclair buys the Fox RSNs and bid using that ‘network’ plus the OTA Sinclair affiliates and their Stadium streaming platform.

Now keep in mind ASN went belly-up and got rolled into Stadium so it’s not something that worked before.

This is the reality - not Netflix or Amazon.

Again, helpful to consider. Back on track at 11:11am?

A Memphis State grad who probably moves boxes at FedEx is talking smack lol. Tomorrow I’ll be working on things with 2 and 3 more zeros than the AAC deal and he’ll be explaining to someone why they lost their shipment from newegg.

True or not, top-notch funny stuff, well-delivered at 5pm, but it still doesn't fill the hole suggested by your Saturday night love listing.

Yes, you have gifts to offer but often not much of a generous spirit. I think that's why you get in a lot of dust-ups here.

Just an observation from someone out of his depth.

 

[pj]

Regardless of what some of our more delusional posters think - the next contract will be a function of the numbers of parties interested.

Make a case for a legitimate second bidder (nevermind third or fourth).

I suspect they will have two offers from ESPN. One that looks like today and one that keeps what is on linear TV on TV and moves the ESPN3 content to ESPN+.

I’d guess the first deal gets them 3-4 million and the second deal gets them 5-6 million.

Breaking it into a bunch of pieces would probably get them a few more dollars but is suicide from a competitive standpoint. The only thing the league has going for it is the deluge of games easily available on ESPN properties and ESPN having so many windows because so much has/will move to the SEC and ACC networks.

ESPN having so many holes to fill is why they can compel ESPN to pay up at least to the level they can get other networks to pay a la carte. And if they can persuade ESPN that that level is higher than it really is, they can get ESPN to pay in the $7-10 mn range.

B10 showed how it's done by getting the Fox deal on part of their content at a high number, setting the market for ESPN. If the AAC can get a second bidder to do a publicly announced deal on a piece of content, they can extract a better bid from ESPN for the rest.

 

[whaler11]

Pull quote from Saturday night 10:43pm. Yep, "love." My Saturday gratitude listed out quite differently. This helps to explain why we do our little tug-o-wars.



Helpful stuff at 9:56am the next morning, for which kudos are due. Makes it worthwhile for the casual fan to click on the thread after noticing it has some legs.



Sure he does. That's why he asked, and it's a fair question within a half hour of your confident post.

Other people want to know as well.



Again, helpful to consider. Back on track at 11:11am?



True or not, top-notch funny stuff, well-delivered at 5pm, but it still doesn't fill the hole suggested by your Saturday night love listing.

Yes, you have gifts to offer but often not much of a generous spirit. I think that's why you get in a lot of dust-ups here.

Just an observation from someone out of his depth.

Why do my professional credentials matter but nobody else’s? We’ve been talking about this stuff for years on the CR board it’s pretty clear at this point who knows what they are talking about and who doesn’t. I priced and negotiated way bigger deals than the AAC for a long time.

This is a simple equation - the rights fees go up when there are multiple competitors. We know from last go round there weren’t any other serious bidders. We had these same discussions the last go round and talked pumped up NBC (lol - they were going to have AAC/Notre Dame doubleheaders on OTA NBC in one ongoing fantasy).

People throw out AMAZON without even thinking about what it would mean for Amazon to own the rights. Amazon doesn’t currently have any ability to produce the games. Now could they build it? Could they hire someone to do it? Sure - they can do whatever they want - but the idea that Amazon is going to build out an arm to do live sports production for the AAC seems a bit far fetched.

Amazon has streamed someone else’s NFL production. They bought 20 EPL games. They are like a third of the growth of the S&P 500 YTD. They have a huge scope that is highly focused on huge emerging markets all over the planet - the AAC is small potatoes with tiny regional fanbases outside of UConn basketball.

It’s easy to call for 4-5x the money for the next deal, but other than throwing out some real long shots like Amazon nobody has come up with the rabbit that ESPN is going to chase.

 

[CL82]

People throw out AMAZON without even thinking about what it would mean for Amazon to own the rights. Amazon doesn’t currently have any ability to produce the games. Now could they build it? Could they hire someone to do it? Sure - they can do whatever they want - but the idea that Amazon is going to build out an arm to do live sports production for the AAC seems a bit far fetched.

Even if they could, would that be good for the league? I doubt it, we'd fall off the face of the earth for most sports fans. (Yes, I know that you are aware of that.)

This deal is absolutely critical for UConn especially but for all the AAC programs. It will decide whether we will be able to stay in the big time sport spending war. As you have said, absent some competition, it isn't likely to good news for us.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Why do my professional credentials matter but nobody else’s?

Because your demeanor quite fairly invites such curiosity.

You are not currently on the CR Board, and many here are ignorant regarding things you hold as settled and obvious and legitimate platform for a certain type of boorishness. It's an ignorance of its own type to treat ignorance as stupidity, and further so to treat stupidity as worthy of ridicule. Both run counter to the genuine value you are able to contribute when you frame the discussion as the balance of your post does.

I hope that helps. It seemed to me to be a better idea than to just steamroller you with an epithet in case good manners simply hadn't occurred to you as an option.

Thanks for your input into this thread

 

[Huskymagic]

If we get less money than the Big East members currently get despite having a decent basketball league and the best football conference outside the P5 then UCONN choices are clear: find a way ASAP to enter a P5 conference or drop football and join the Big East.

It would be stupid for UCONN to continue with football if ESPN disrespects UCONN and the league with a valuation that will be less than what Big East members get just for basketball from FOX.

PS: Connecticut legislators need to get tougher on ESPN. To be in the state of Connecticut and not be able to throw a bone to UCONN which has been very valuable to ESPN and produced many great sports moments for them is bordering on criminal. Our governor, congressmen, senators need to have immense pressure put on them to rectify this situation with ESPN.

PS: Protests need to start happening at ESPN headquarters by UCONN fans and students demanding a change.

 

[UConnJim]

Why do my professional credentials matter but nobody else’s? We’ve been talking about this stuff for years on the CR board it’s pretty clear at this point who knows what they are talking about and who doesn’t. I priced and negotiated way bigger deals than the AAC for a long time.

This is a simple equation - the rights fees go up when there are multiple competitors. We know from last go round there weren’t any other serious bidders. We had these same discussions the last go round and talked pumped up NBC (lol - they were going to have AAC/Notre Dame doubleheaders on OTA NBC in one ongoing fantasy).

People throw out AMAZON without even thinking about what it would mean for Amazon to own the rights. Amazon doesn’t currently have any ability to produce the games. Now could they build it? Could they hire someone to do it? Sure - they can do whatever they want - but the idea that Amazon is going to build out an arm to do live sports production for the AAC seems a bit far fetched.

Amazon has streamed someone else’s NFL production. They bought 20 EPL games. They are like a third of the growth of the S&P 500 YTD. They have a huge scope that is highly focused on huge emerging markets all over the planet - the AAC is small potatoes with tiny regional fanbases outside of UConn basketball.

It’s easy to call for 4-5x the money for the next deal, but other than throwing out some real long shots like Amazon nobody has come up with the rabbit that ESPN is going to chase.

As I mentioned previously in the thread, there are 2 legitimate conventional bidders, CBS and AT&T Warner Media. Personally, based on all the moves we have seen recently, I would think that CBS is a logical bidder for AAC media rights. They could just buy rights from ESPN like they did last contract, but they may want more content. CBS has some SEC football games, but on any given Saturday, CBS has 1 to 2 slots open for football at either noon and 7/8 PM or both. They can throw the rest of the games on CBS Sports Network and/or allow the schools to sell more game like to SNY. As for basketball, CBS could show games and they could share content with their NCAA basketball tournament partner, AT&T Turner Media (TBS, TNT, TruTV) to show some games.

The streaming companies are a complete unknown as to what they are interested in doing, although we do have an Amazon exec comment on college sports rights that was highlighted in a separate thread. Will they bid? I don't think this round, but I think they will be bidding in the future on college sports rights.

On the comment that the streaming companies like Amazon don't currently have the ability to produce games. People made the argument that Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu were just streaming other people's content and content was king. Then they all started producing original content and some of it is pretty good. If they want college sports rights, they will build the capability to produce it. I think ESPN learned this lesson when the Big 1o Network started producing games.

 

[JMick]

PS: Protests need to start happening at ESPN headquarters by UCONN fans and students demanding a change.

Can we create an award for stupidest post of the day? Because I really want to give this post some sort of award.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Can we create an award for stupidest post of the day? Because I really want to give this post some sort of award.

How about just don't show up in Bristol? Or spend some more of your time creating the award and doing a Livestream of your presentation?

 

[whaler11]

As I mentioned previously in the thread, there are 2 legitimate conventional bidders, CBS and AT&T Warner Media. Personally, based on all the moves we have seen recently, I would think that CBS is a logical bidder for AAC media rights. They could just buy rights from ESPN like they did last contract, but they may want more content. CBS has some SEC football games, but on any given Saturday, CBS has 1 to 2 slots open for football at either noon and 7/8 PM or both. They can throw the rest of the games on CBS Sports Network and/or allow the schools to sell more game like to SNY. As for basketball, CBS could show games and they could share content with their NCAA basketball tournament partner, AT&T Turner Media (TBS, TNT, TruTV) to show some games.

The streaming companies are a complete unknown as to what they are interested in doing, although we do have an Amazon exec comment on college sports rights that was highlighted in a separate thread. Will they bid? I don't think this round, but I think they will be bidding in the future on college sports rights.

On the comment that the streaming companies like Amazon don't currently have the ability to produce games. People made the argument that Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu were just streaming other people's content and content was king. Then they all started producing original content and some of it is pretty good. If they want college sports rights, they will build the capability to produce it. I think ESPN learned this lesson when the Big 1o Network started producing games.

CBS OTA is going to go against ESPN/ABC/Fox primetime with AAC football? The affiliates would revolt.

CBS Sportsnet isn’t even a rated network. CBS has never shown any interest in trying to compete with it. They have their military academies and what they buy off the scrap heap.

I’m sure CBS will try and keep the small basketball package they have but they don’t even have anywhere to put the volume to buy anything more than they have in the past. Those Turner outlets other than TruTv get audiences that destroy AAC numbers by just showing syndicated re-runs. A Big Bang Theory rerun gets 5x what an AAC game would get on TNT or TBS.

I said that Amazon could build whatever they want - they are going to build it for the AAC? What little they have done has been in the much deeper end of the pool. They might run the whole world by 2030 but we are talking about the next deal.

 

[whaler11]

Live sporting events are the exact opposite of the streaming business model.

Netflix has been cannibalizing cable in two ways.

1. They changed ‘tv’ to something that isn’t built around a schedule.
2. They invested in a huge library of permanent content that is always new to some set of users that doesn’t expire.

Live sports are tied to a schedule and have zero value the second the final whistle blows.

I don’t see it as the slam dunk people claim it is.

 

[Guapo]

Live sporting events are the exact opposite of the streaming business model.

Netflix has been cannibalizing cable in two ways.

1. They changed ‘tv’ to something that isn’t built around a schedule.
2. They invested in a huge library of permanent content that is always new to some set of users that doesn’t expire.

Live sports are tied to a schedule and have zero value the second the final whistle blows.

I don’t see it as the slam dunk people claim it is.

I agree that this is far from a slam dunk.

What I think* people are trying to say is that sports are one of the only things people will watch live which means they have immense value to advertisers.

Therefore, they have value to the Amazons/youtubes/Netflixs of the world because it allows them entry to a robust revenue stream.

Plus, I believe there have been articles where at least one of these tech people are quoted as saying they want in on live sports for the reason stated above.

 

[whaler11]

I agree that this is far from a slam dunk.

What I think* people are trying to say is that sports are one of the only things people will watch live which means they have immense value to advertisers.

Therefore, they have value to the Amazons/youtubes/Netflixs of the world because it allows them entry to a robust revenue stream.

Plus, I believe there have been articles where at least one of these tech people are quoted as saying they want in on live sports for the reason stated above.

And what was one of cable’s big challenges?

Sports are so expensive and watched by so few that those subsidizing started to revolt. Why would Netflix for example want to chase off subs they got for that reason in the first place?

I thought Netflix said they don’t want sports. Amazon has those EPL games - stuff like that and cricket that is more international seems a lot more likely than mid-level american college sports to me since the potential audience dwarfs something like SMU/Tulsa - which gets a rating that is completely determined by what network it airs on.

 

[intlzncster]

Nobody's signing up for Netflix for the sports package.

 

[BUConn10]

A Memphis State grad who probably moves boxes at FedEx is talking smack lol. Tomorrow I’ll be working on things with 2 and 3 more zeros than the AAC deal and he’ll be explaining to someone why they lost their shipment from newegg.

UConn didn’t get their tier 3 rights back. They got the money back for the women’s basketball deal that was signed with SNY prior to the AAC deal. I believe it was exactly $1mm a year.

Unless something has changed the league owns everything going forward and UConn can’t sell the women’s basketball rights again.

Maybe Mrs Aresco should get her facts straight before running her mouth? Stunning Steve couldn’t value the loose change in his pocket - he can’t even dream up an entity that will magically make the contract bigger.

God it’s bad enough UConn has to subsidize this community college league - maybe don’t encourage their stupidest graduates.

Simply savage.

 

[UConnJim]

CBS OTA is going to go against ESPN/ABC/Fox primetime with AAC football? The affiliates would revolt.

CBS Sportsnet isn’t even a rated network. CBS has never shown any interest in trying to compete with it. They have their military academies and what they buy off the scrap heap.

I’m sure CBS will try and keep the small basketball package they have but they don’t even have anywhere to put the volume to buy anything more than they have in the past. Those Turner outlets other than TruTv get audiences that destroy AAC numbers by just showing syndicated re-runs. A Big Bang Theory rerun gets 5x what an AAC game would get on TNT or TBS.

I said that Amazon could build whatever they want - they are going to build it for the AAC? What little they have done has been in the much deeper end of the pool. They might run the whole world by 2030 but we are talking about the next deal.

Have you looked at CBS Saturday night Fall ratings? They are generally the 3rd or 4th ranked network for the key demographic, 18-49 year olds. They attract viewers (maybe 3.5 million a night), but they are old by generally showing re-runs and 48 Hours. And, the cost of re-runs can run high as CBS doesn't usually own the content and producing original content is very expensive so they are not going to produce original content for a dead Saturday night. The only time CBS wins in the key demo is when they show SEC Saturday night football games.

I did not say the AAC ws going to be shown every Saturday night on CBS, but they could fill some slots when the SEC is not being broadcast. And, the noon slots are wide open.

Big Bang Theory re-runs are a smashing success, but content like that is expensive, and not many syndicated shows can match BBT's draw. And, it is only a 30 minute show.

 

[CL82]

Nobody's signing up for Netflix for the sports package.

I might. It depends what is being offered and how much it is, right? That said, I'd only want that for UConn for games that are not being broadcast elsewhere.

 

[Guapo]

And what was one of cable’s big challenges?

Sports are so expensive and watched by so few that those subsidizing started to revolt. Why would Netflix for example want to chase off subs they got for that reason in the first place?

I thought Netflix said they don’t want sports. Amazon has those EPL games - stuff like that and cricket that is more international seems a lot more likely than mid-level american college sports to me since the potential audience dwarfs something like SMU/Tulsa - which gets a rating that is completely determined by what network it airs on.

I agree, that the idea of the AAC selling its rights to a Netflix or Amazon is far fetched.

But just on the bigger idea of the future of broadcasting sports; I don't think Netflix or Amazon would adapt the cable model.

It would be something much more like a la carte. There'll be a "Netflix CBB Network" that you pay for seperatly.

 

[Guapo]

cc: @whaler11

Amazon gets serious about streaming live sports - Digiday

 

[JMick]

Nobody's signing up for Netflix for the sports package.

No one is paying $50/mo for Netflix sports. People will pay $20 though. Look at Sling

 

[Guapo]

It's important to note that, even if Amazon has interest in buying rights to the AAC, it does not automatically mean it'll offer a dump truck full of money in order to do so.