American and Mountain West should merge.

[Confident Carl]

I think 10-15 million is overly optimistic. I think they will have to sell their games over various platforms to be able to get their full value whatever that is. If people haven't noticed P5 coaches and AD's have openly talked about scheduling exclusively against each other for "fair, competitive" purposes. A confederation of the best schools outside the P5 should help with scheduling, and could lessen travel issues if grouped regionally.

I don't know what the right figure is. My point in writing it is, heck we are almost at rock bottom money wise without many choices left.
UCONN and everyone else can hope for an invite to a P5 conference or hopefully do something dramatic to elevate the upcoming TV contract. I am sure it's a slippery slope because I wouldn't doubt the Networks like the profits they get already from the AAC and the MWC. Truth is, if things remain the way they are the product will most likely decline. A super truly "National American Conference, like I described may have some appeal to the networks. Having Houston, BYU, Boise, Cincy, Navy, UCF, USF, UCONNetc. makes this a pretty solid conference with incredible TV markets. Aresco needs to uncover every stone. It's worth exploring. What does he have to lose!

The big question is simply this:

CAN THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE GET MAX TV DOLLARS IN THE CURRENT CONFIGURATION OR WITH A COMBINATION OF THE BEST OF THE REST IN MAKING UP A 16 TEAM SUPER CONFERENCE.

If the answer is combine and grow then you gotta do what you gotta do!

 

[Husky25]

The big question is simply this:

CAN THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE GET MAX TV DOLLARS IN THE CURRENT CONFIGURATION OR WITH A COMBINATION OF THE BEST OF THE REST IN MAKING UP A 16 TEAM SUPER CONFERENCE.

Does ESPN still hold a matching clause or can Aresco get market value for the media rights?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Then I would expect to bust. With the current P5 contracts set in stone, no one is getting elevated out of the G5 anytime soon. Jeff Jacobs called it "the sad, long road to irrelavency", I just can't see how standing pat, hoping for better is a reasonable way to look at things. We've tried that approach and watched Louisville get picked ahead of us, the Big 12 decide to not expand, and our entire conference get picked to the bone. I guess we will see.

What I anticipate is that in future years athletic spending will likely have to be cut back at the risk of running a massive subsidy.

I think you'll see the non revenue sports spending cut back and then eventually football and lastly we would do everything in our power to keep KO.

Just because inaction is likely to cause us to fall from the National scene, doesn't mean we should exacerbate the process and fall off any quicker just do aomething for the sake of it.

 

[noeynox]

Does ESPN still hold a matching clause or can Aresco get market value for the media rights?

I believe that is gone.

 

[Husky25]

I believe that is gone.

That is nothing but good. The fact that it even existed in the first place is mind boggling. The American consisted of 4 teams at the time. Why did any clause from when it was called the Big East still exist when 75% of the member institutions were no longer associated.

Be that as it may, Aresco did well in getting the amount of exposure for the AAC for the money. The problem is, exposure does not translate into the media perception of prestige. Dollar bills are much more negotiable.

 

[noeynox]

That is nothing but good. The fact that it even existed in the first place is mind boggling. The American consisted of 4 teams at the time. Why did any clause from when it was called the Big East still exist when 75% of the member institutions were no longer associated.

Be that as it may, Aresco did well in getting the amount of exposure for the AAC for the money. The problem is, exposure does not translate into the media perception of prestige. Dollar bills are much more negotiable.

I forget the particulars, but the Big East was the 1st conference to explore and have the opportunity to create its own network. When it didn't materialize, the commissioner at the Time Marinato or Tranghese can't remember which was quoted as saying "The Big East has its own network, its called ESPN." It was incredibly short sighted and speaks to the people who put in the right to match clause you speak about into the contract

 

[Confident Carl]

Does ESPN still hold a matching clause or can Aresco get market value for the media rights?

That's a good question. I honestly do not know.

 

[Confident Carl]

Some of you guys need to take a step back and just deal with the reality that our current situation is the best for us outside of the P5.

UNLV, Colorado State and San Diego state ain't saving the future of UConn athletics.

Mike Aresco has stated three things that most would agree with:

1. American is best of G5
2. Wants to market and promote the P6 image
3. Wants to be in the best negotiating position at contract time.

The 60,000 question is does adding the best 4 teams add substinative value? I will leave that up to the experts. At this point all I think is it very well could.
Now that various teams from both the AAC & MWC have been scorned by the Big 12 and others, if there is any merit in beefing up to a 16 team truly American Athletic Conference then now is the time to start thinking about it. The thought of adding teams like BYU, Boise State, CSU and SDS make the conference as a whole more appealing on a national level. Depending on the value of the new constructed franchise, it just may save UCONN athletics from further economic decay.

Aresco can sit on his hands or do something dynamic. As I said, increased value must be there and the Networks must like the concept, otherwise it won't work.

 

[HuskyinWRNY]

A lot of great thoughts here, everyone should keep the ideas flowing because I do believe this is the write track. First and foremost, unfortunately it's all about the money. So I say go contra to what the Big 12 did and EXPAND and welcome teams that are worthy of P6 status! We have undoubtedly the best TV conference commish in the country so he needs to test the waters with the networks to see what combination of teams in a new restructured, truly national American Athletic conference is most desirable. If reeling in any of the Mountain West's better programs, Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Air Force, or UNLV, plus of course independent BYU makes sense to the Networks and a big money TV contract then do what they say because as we all know too well by now, they control the game. Once Aresco has an idea of what the "right" expanded AAC conference is and what kind of dollars it will reap, then go to the schools that make the most sense and do the deal. The AAC, especially with Aresco at the helm is in a great position to pull this off. Here is what a possible expanded American could look like.

HOW COULD THIS NOT BE CALLED A POWER 6 CONFERENCE
New 16 Team American Athletic Conference

EAST

UCONN
TEMPLE
CINCINATTI
ECU
NAVY
UCF
USF
MEMPHIS

WEST

HOUSTON
SMU
TULSA
TULANE

They would pick from a selection of teams based on a combination of factors, FOOTBALL(most important) travel partners, TV markets, basketball prowess, etc.

The best candidates in my opinion would be:

BYU
Boise State
Colorado State
Air Force
San Diego State
UNLV

There are some pretty good basketball schools in there.

If Aresco could fetch 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 per team in a truly National conference like this it would be easy to reel any of these teams in.

Finally, I am well aware that the sports networks are already paying for this content on the cheap and if bringing BYU into the Mountain West was that enticing they would jump on it. The point of this expansion idea is that the 4 strongest Western teams make an expanded American all that much better.

Knock out BYU, because they won't be interested, and UNLV and this is a great option.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Mike Aresco has stated three things that most would agree with:

1. American is best of G5
2. Wants to market and promote the P6 image
3. Wants to be in the best negotiating position at contract time.

The 60,000 question is does adding the best 4 teams add substinative value? I will leave that up to the experts. At this point all I think is it very well could.
Now that various teams from both the AAC & MWC have been scorned by the Big 12 and others, if there is any merit in beefing up to a 16 team truly American Athletic Conference then now is the time to start thinking about it. The thought of adding teams like BYU, Boise State, CSU and SDS make the conference as a whole more appealing on a national level. Depending on the value of the new constructed franchise, it just may save UCONN athletics from further economic decay.

Aresco can sit on his hands or do something dynamic. As I said, increased value must be there and the Networks must like the concept, otherwise it won't work.

1. BYU is independent due to a religious mission and has a nice deal with ESPN already in addition to their own network. They aren't foregoing that for the privilege to play ECU on ESPN News.

2. Boise State already has a deal with to give them a larger piece of the MW pie. Again they are going to join a league on the other side of the Midwest for all their athletic teams for what exactly? Not to mention the fact they have am easier path to the access bowl in MW.

3. San Diego State. In case you forgot they already were a football only member with the aforementioned Boise State. When we lost AQ status they had second thoughts about killing their hoops in the WCC and flying across the country every week for football. As a full sports member? Yeah right.

4. Colorado State. A football program that has won more than 8 games 1 time in 13 years and has been to 4 bowls in the past 10. 5 NCAA tourney appearances since 1970!!!!! Yes, the networks are drooling over having them compete in the AAC.

I seriously don't know what to say and I know people are trying to throw anything and everything against a wall and hope that it sticks, but the notion we need to add schools that will devalue our league and decrease our per team pay out is absolute lunacy. I don't mean to be a jerk but the solution to the problem isn't in our hands (P5) doing something for the sake of not doing anything is incredibly shortsighted. That's how we ended up with Tulsa and Tulane.

 

[Confident Carl]

1. BYU is independent due to a religious mission and has a nice deal with ESPN already in addition to their own network. They aren't foregoing that for the privilege to play ECU on ESPN News.

2. Boise State already has a deal with to give them a larger piece of the MW pie. Again they are going to join a league on the other side of the Midwest for all their athletic teams for what exactly? Not to mention the fact they have am easier path to the access bowl in MW.

3. San Diego State. In case you forgot they already were a football only member with the aforementioned Boise State. When we lost AQ status they had second thoughts about killing their hoops in the WCC and flying across the country every week for football. As a full sports member? Yeah right.

4. Colorado State. A football program that has won more than 8 games 1 time in 13 years and has been to 4 bowls in the past 10. 5 NCAA tourney appearances since 1970!!!!! Yes, the networks are drooling over having them compete in the AAC.

I seriously don't know what to say and I know people are trying to throw anything and everything against a wall and hope that it sticks, but the notion we need to add schools that will devalue our league and decrease our per team pay out is absolute lunacy. I don't mean to be a jerk but the solution to the problem isn't in our hands (P5) doing something for the sake of not doing anything is incredibly shortsighted. That's how we ended up with Tulsa and Tulane.

I realize this is an up hill battle and you may be correct on several of your points. I am not going to get into how much BYU makes in their own deal or how much more Boise State gets from the MWC, etc. If Aresco is going to cut a deal based on increased value it has to be a compelling one.

No one is more aware of the Mish mash associated with the John Marinatto era. I myself have posted that Boise and SDS would have major reservations about a repeat of the previous merger fiasco due to the implosion of the Big East. I totally get it.

My question is explorative in nature. I suggested that someone might want to quantify the real intrinsic value of adding the best of the West to the American. This is how the planet advances itself. If in fact the network bigs see no value then obviously it won't happen.

Everyone is different but I have to think people like Ray Kroc, Steve Jobs and Walt Disney made it in America with great ideas, vision and a think BIG attitude. The Big 12 just thought small and was obviously only concerned about there own self interests, which they have every right to do. I can't help feeling that the brush off of so many quality institutions may serve as motivation to do something new and dynamic.

Nobody is throwing anything against the wall here. The truth however is no one is throwing up any white flags either!

American Athletic Conference emerges from Big 12 expansion derby talking 'Power 6' | SportsDay

 

[don356]

If the cable and satellite bleeding does not stop, these networks are not going to have any extra money to pay other conferences given what they have committed to the p5 group. They'll be showing reruns.

 

[bobbyinaz]

If the cable and satellite bleeding does not stop, these networks are not going to have any extra money to pay other conferences given what they have committed to the p5 group. They'll be showing reruns.

Unfortunately, this may be the reality of our situation. The networks have billions already committed to the sports programming they currently own. The AAC will likely get a raise from the paltry amount we currently receive but IMO, I don't see anyway that there is a $10+MM per school payout out there from anyone. ESPN already farms several games a week out to CBS Sports so it'd not like they are desperate for programming.

If Aresco can cobble together something that pays each school$3-5MM and we can possible get another $3-4MM on our Tier 3 rights that would probably be the max we can expect to get.

 

[Confident Carl]

Don't think that makes sense at all.

Most of the AAC schools don't belong in the same league as us, let alone most of the Mountain West.

AAC already takes home more than the MW, why further dilute our pay?

Boise took in 9.3 Million last year. Good info on MWC bonus money.

Mountain West distributed $46 million and Boise State took home the most at $9.3 million.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Then I would expect to bust. With the current P5 contracts set in stone, no one is getting elevated out of the G5 anytime soon. Jeff Jacobs called it "the sad, long road to irrelavency", I just can't see how standing pat, hoping for better is a reasonable way to look at things. We've tried that approach and watched Louisville get picked ahead of us, the Big 12 decide to not expand, and our entire conference get picked to the bone. I guess we will see.

I get it, but to assume everything is static is wrong. You might not see the change today or tomorrow, but it will happen. Technology and competition may be the biggest disruptions or something else even will alter the current landscape.
Until then, Uconn moves forward with academic excellence and research. Remain competitive in athletics and keep growing the football program.

Uconn has proven it is not a school of mediocrity in anything it does. That shouldn't change because of the current situation.

I am confident Uconn will dictate its own future.

 

[HuskyHawk]

A lot of great thoughts here, everyone should keep the ideas flowing because I do believe this is the write track. First and foremost, unfortunately it's all about the money. So I say go contra to what the Big 12 did and EXPAND and welcome teams that are worthy of P6 status! We have undoubtedly the best TV conference commish in the country so he needs to test the waters with the networks to see what combination of teams in a new restructured, truly national American Athletic conference is most desirable. If reeling in any of the Mountain West's better programs, Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Air Force, or UNLV, plus of course independent BYU makes sense to the Networks and a big money TV contract then do what they say because as we all know too well by now, they control the game. Once Aresco has an idea of what the "right" expanded AAC conference is and what kind of dollars it will reap, then go to the schools that make the most sense and do the deal. The AAC, especially with Aresco at the helm is in a great position to pull this off. Here is what a possible expanded American could look like.

HOW COULD THIS NOT BE CALLED A POWER 6 CONFERENCE
New 16 Team American Athletic Conference

EAST

UCONN
TEMPLE
CINCINATTI
ECU
NAVY
UCF
USF
MEMPHIS

WEST

HOUSTON
SMU
TULSA
TULANE

They would pick from a selection of teams based on a combination of factors, FOOTBALL(most important) travel partners, TV markets, basketball prowess, etc.

The best candidates in my opinion would be:

BYU
Boise State
Colorado State
Air Force
San Diego State
UNLV

There are some pretty good basketball schools in there.

If Aresco could fetch 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 per team in a truly National conference like this it would be easy to reel any of these teams in.

Finally, I am well aware that the sports networks are already paying for this content on the cheap and if bringing BYU into the Mountain West was that enticing they would jump on it. The point of this expansion idea is that the 4 strongest Western teams make an expanded American all that much better.

I say no to all of this. A league with no money cannot, under any circumstances, spread to the mountain and pacific time zones. It would be a disaster. MWC teams would never do football only, which means the Olympic sports would (a) suck big time, even worse than now and (b) cost even more money to run. It would kill the AD at every AAC school. It would wreck the ratings for any AAC game played in those time zones. You think playing basketball against Tulane at 8:00 PM is bad, try games against SDSU at 10:00 PM. No.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I say no to all of this. A league with no money cannot, under any circumstances, spread to the mountain and pacific time zones. It would be a disaster. MWC teams would never do football only, which means the Olympic sports would (a) suck big time, even worse than now and (b) cost even more money to run. It would kill the AD at every AAC school. It would wreck the ratings for any AAC game played in those time zones. You think playing basketball against Tulane at 8:00 PM is bad, try games against SDSU at 10:00 PM. No.

That's the point I'm trying to make. Everyone is looking at this with UConn's interests.

Half the MW teams don't want to blow up their ADs to downgrade their olympic sports to a lesser league and then sending their football teams all over the country to play schools with no history with them for a potentially slightly better pay day?

 

[Slasher]

Boise took in 9.3 Million last year. Good info on MWC bonus money.

Mountain West distributed $46 million and Boise State took home the most at $9.3 million.

Distribution is far bigger topic than just TV money though. You have bowl money, NCAA tournament appearance money, sponsorship money, etc. UC and UConn were both distributed over 10M last year, and I think that didn't count the AAC making the access bowl. But it did include some Big East tourney credits and some exit fees.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That's the point I'm trying to make. Everyone is looking at this with UConn's interests.

Half the MW teams don't want to blow up their ADs to downgrade their olympic sports to a lesser league and then sending their football teams all over the country to play schools with no history with them for a potentially slightly better pay day?

Exactly. We should not even contemplate adding any school west of Dallas. That's it. We don't need anymore anyway. We need the ones we have to improve, and they have been. Tulane is better. Tulsa is good. UCF is better. USF is much better. UConn is better. Now if we can see schools like Houston make a step in basketball, and if Tubby can restore Memphis to something decent, we'll have something going here. The MWC schools don't add squat.

Aresco has the correct perspective on this. He needs to talk to all the ADs about nonconference schedules, in basketball especially, so that the league RPI can improve. Getting that one extra team in the dance creates separation. It fuels better recruiting and more separation. 3 teams become 4 which becomes 5. Football is already further along on that trajectory.

 

[bobbyinaz]

Distribution is far bigger topic than just TV money though. You have bowl money, NCAA tournament appearance money, sponsorship money, etc. UC and UConn were both distributed over 10M last year, and I think that didn't count the AAC making the access bowl. But it did include some Big East tourney credits and some exit fees.

You can't disregard the BE tourney credits and exit fee money. Of the $10MM UConn got, the majority of it came from exit fees & tourney credits. Distribution and visibility is important but revenue is crucial to the future. We could be the ABC primetime game every Saturday night but without revenue this Athletic Dept cannot survive long term

 

[Confident Carl]

I say no to all of this. A league with no money cannot, under any circumstances, spread to the mountain and pacific time zones. It would be a disaster. MWC teams would never do football only, which means the Olympic sports would (a) suck big time, even worse than now and (b) cost even more money to run. It would kill the AD at every AAC school. It would wreck the ratings for any AAC game played in those time zones. You think playing basketball against Tulane at 8:00 PM is bad, try games against SDSU at 10:00 PM. No.

HH - This idea would be floated by the TV execs by Aresco before any kind of implementation. You are correct, even if it flies, there would be problems with Olympic sports, scheduling, travel, etc. Some of the OLympic teams already play in different leagues anyway so those things can be worked out.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I don't see the advantage in merging.
Why would we hand access to huge markets to mostly a small market conference
I think that conference is ripe for a raid . Air Force ( to appease Navy), Colo State ( partner) possibly New Mexico ( flagship +okay BB) ) and always BYU

 

[Marty Jackson]

I say no to all of this. A league with no money cannot, under any circumstances, spread to the mountain and pacific time zones. It would be a disaster. MWC teams would never do football only, which means the Olympic sports would (a) suck big time, even worse than now and (b) cost even more money to run. It would kill the AD at every AAC school. It would wreck the ratings for any AAC game played in those time zones. You think playing basketball against Tulane at 8:00 PM is bad, try games against SDSU at 10:00 PM. No.

why can't you create two divisions of 8. for football, you play the 7 in your division and rotate two from the other division.
Two champions play for the NY6 bowl. If the playoffs expand to 8, I think case could be made for the 4 P4 champions, 1 G5 (most likely this group), and 3 at large.