Aresco Sounds Off

[zls44]

I get the feeling the guy cares more about being liked and perception than doing whats best for the membership.

http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=6736

 

[Vuce]

This one quote kills me:

"So much revenue is driven by football."

Yeah so we have been told for years. Then the split happens and the Big East hoops league makes MORE than our group that has football.

Also noticed he said "bell cow" more than once

 

[Carl Spackler]

You take a major hit on money, for the short term, to make sure all your games are on TV. How is this not clear?

Secondly, this guy understands full on, that everything that's happened, in the past 30 years in intercollegiate athletics, is 100% entirely about personal relationships, and how individual people vote, affects multimillion dollar businesses.

So being liked, and respected, and perception, is yes indeed - very big. The most important thing to me, in this piece, is that this conference, can finally start going about the business of promoting itself, marketing and building itself now. And believe it or not, there are plenty of things to promote, and unlike many other products out there, this product has incredible room for growth.

 

[Rumrunner]

As bad as you think he is, think of this for a moment.

He totally rolled UConn by grabbing its media rights for $2-3 million a year for the next seven years. Football, men's basketball and women's basketball.

So while Aresco sucks, there are some closer to home who must suck a whole lot more. Which is quite a scary thought going forward.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I'm no Aresco fan, but man this couldn't have been what he signed up for.

Also, the NBC Deal was bull given that ESPN has the right to match the deal. It wasn't even pennies for ESPN.

The one thing the AAC may have going for it is ESPN exposure but even that remains to be seen what that means (i.e. ESPNU/ESPN3).

Seems like with the rise of conference networks and Fox stepping up as a player, there is.going.to be a need for more content on ESPN. That may not benefit all of the AAC but UCONN Cinci Memphis Temple and others should still appear regularly on ESPN - I hope at least.

 

[zls44]

I expect the Group A schools will feature frequently on broadcast networks.

As for Group B...I expect that Group A schools will feature frequently on broadcast networks.

 

[zls44]

You take a major hit on money, for the short term, to make sure all your games are on TV. How is this not clear?
.

Because the major hit on money was a result of a pathetic NBC offer and a ROFR clause, not some brilliant negotiating strategy.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Because the major hit on money was a result of a pathetic NBC offer and a ROFR clause, not some brilliant negotiating strategy.

Thanks for making it clear for those that don't get it. The stupidest thing of all the stupid things that Tranghese did to our former league, was give ESPN the first offer/match refuse option. i still don't know the exact terms of the deal, but I know that NBC does not have the same online broadcast platforms that ESPN uses, but they do have multiple channels for broadcast, and had access to regional networks, so it goes to assumption that all of our games are going to be easily accessible on TV via ESPN broadcast, or regional distribution by ESPN on television.

If there was any brilliance in the negotiations, on Aresco's part, it was finding a way to play the cards, so that we don't get relegated to ESPN3.com, with the ESPN ROFR in place.

I have yet to see it laid out clearly, but it seems that won't be the case. IF it does turn out that we're on ESPN3.com, and ONLY on online broadcasting, and not easily accessible on basic tier television for all of our football and basketball.......then Aresco should give back all the money he made in the past year.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I expect the Group A schools will feature frequently on broadcast networks.

As for Group B...I expect that Group A schools will feature frequently on broadcast networks.

This made me lol at my cubicle. Well done.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

I don't care what the excuses are, but the TV deal AAC signed is just freaking pathetic. I can't believe our school is being thrown in as part of this horrible deal. With the amount we are getting from this media deal, we be lucky to stay competitive going forward. We are paying Geno $2M per year and this deal barely pays that. I don't know what is the grand plan for us, but we need to get out of the AAC and get in a real conference soon.

 

[The Funster]

Aresco is a blowhard.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

ROFR's are so mother&%#$ing stupid to grant that Tranghese should be forced to repay every nickel he ever got from the league.

Aresco deserves some blame too. He should have simply not signed a deal and left it to the schools to syndicate their media rights. I suspect he doesn't get paid in that situation.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I do think that the exposure could end up being better than the BE. ESPN has lost a ton of content in this round of television contracts, and will need to broadcast something, especially in the winter.

 

[RS9999X]

The upside:
Easier to win the Conference.
The various residuals from the BE breakup.
Only 6 years before its re-opened if not before.

If you follow the streaming world there is a scramble by Amazon and Netflix for original content. Microsoft Xbox Infinity gets introduced in 3 weeks. All sorts of possibilities looming in the near future.

UConn can plan when and how to make a break. Or not. And entertain offers when there's more visibility

Onwards.

 

[Carl Spackler]

The upside:
Easier to win the Conference.
The various residuals from the BE breakup.
Only 6 years before its re-opened if not before.

If you follow the streaming world there is a scramble by Amazon and Netflix for original content. Microsoft Xbox Infinity gets introduced in 3 weeks. All sorts of possibilities looming in the near future.

UConn can plan when and how to make a break. Or not. And entertain offers when there's more visibility

Onwards.

This is where having a 6 year deal can potentially be a very good thing in the future. Who the hell knows what the technology for entertainment viewing will be like in 2020. Whatever it is, UCONN, and the rest of the AAC, will be free agents in the market at that time - when every other conference is still locked up with their media deals, and potentially there are all different kinds of broadcasting possibilities.

 

[The Funster]

This is where having a 6 year deal can potentially be a very good thing in the future. Who the hell knows what the technology for entertainment viewing will be like in 2020. Whatever it is, UCONN, and the rest of the AAC, will be free agents in the market at that time - when every other conference is still locked up with their media deals, and potentially there are all different kinds of broadcasting possibilities.

I agree and it is why I think these long term TV deals (and the GORs attached to them) aren't all that. The way technology is changing, 5 years is a lifetime. If UConn were smart, they'd start looking into some of the emerging alternatives.

 

[CL82]

ROFRs tend to up the purchase price. You bid high enough that 1) the ROFR holder won't take the bid, and 2) if he does he has money available to compete the next time. NBCs low balling means one of more of the following:

a) they didn't want the product

(Probably due the fact that UConn and Cinci were likely to leave. I wonder if the bid would be different after the ACC GOR?);​

b) they had a collateral "in the margins" deal with ESPN;
c) they are incompetant; and/or
d) Aresco and company are the world's worst negotiators.

 

[uconNYC]

Aresco deserves some blame too. He should have simply not signed a deal and left it to the schools to syndicate their media rights.

If we are stuck in this conference, UConn needs to pull a Texas and demand the right to sell its own media rights.

 

[Fairfield 1st]

If we are stuck in this conference, UConn needs to pull a Texas and demand the right to sell its own media rights.

Or else what?

 

[Rumrunner]

That sound you hear is the ship leaving port. The name of the ship? "A Day Late and a Dollar Short."

If we are stuck in this conference, UConn needs to pull a Texas and demand the right to sell its own media rights.

 

[freescooter]

ROFRs tend to up the purchase price. You bid high enough that 1) the ROFR holder won't take the bid, and 2) if he does he has money available to compete the next time. NBCs low balling means one of more of the following:

a) they didn't want the product

(Probably due the fact that UConn and Cinci were likely to leave. I wonder if the bid would be different after the ACC GOR?);​

b) they had a collateral "in the margins" deal with ESPN;
c) they are incompetant; and/or
d) Aresco and company are the world's worst negotiators.

I'll take a and d, Alex.

 

[HuskyHawk]

ROFR's are so mother&%#$ing stupid to grant that Tranghese should be forced to repay every nickel he ever got from the league.

Aresco deserves some blame too. He should have simply not signed a deal and left it to the schools to syndicate their media rights. I suspect he doesn't get paid in that situation.

Bingo. There's the blame. Walk from the NBC offer. Never should have been accepted. The match rights are only relevant if you give ESPN something so easy to match.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Bingo. There's the blame. Walk from the NBC offer. Never should have been accepted. The match rights are only relevant if you give ESPN something so easy to match.

I would have preferred that AAC just walk from the NBC deal and let each school negotiate its own rights. Teams in the AAC will just do a contract between each other for scheduling purposes. UCONN could get way better deal on its own vs. what this crap we just signed.

 

[Fishy]

Or else what?

Or else...we won't be their friends anymore.

 

[UConnJim]

The media rights deal is not that important for the first few years, BUT, exposure is critical. The media rights deal is short term and in the meantime, we will be getting potentially $5 million per year from the old BE Conference over those 6 years. Thus, UConn is fine for the next 6 years financially.

What was key in the media contract was exposure as the only way for UConn sports to remain relevant in the future was to maintain a high level of exposure in the immediate future. In my opinion, the ESPN/CBS deals were way better for exposure than NBC. The NBC deal was too risky and we shall see how the Catholic 7 conference likes the NBC deal in a few years.