At Least American is not going down without a PR fight

[WestCoastHusky]

https://twitter.com/American_Conf/status/451494212689620992/photo/1

All the above were done WITHOUT outgoing UL except for RUSS Smith being an AP 1st team ALL-American. UCONN contributed the most for basketball and UCF for football.

Aresco at least know a thing or two about marketing unlike the previous BE commissioner.

 

[Adios]

The schools in the AAC are obviously not pushovers. I understand the lack of cultural fit but we are still amongst athletically ambitious schools. SMU is reinventing itself as a basketball school. This past season has been impressive.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

The schools in the AAC are obviously not pushovers. I understand the lack of cultural fit but we are still amongst athletically ambitious schools. SMU is reinventing itself as a basketball school. This past season has been impressive.

Houston just hired Kelvin Sampson. They will be tough surely since the guy can coach. Here are programs that have a chance to make AAC tough:

UCONN (Duh!)
Temple
Cincy
SMU
Houston (Kelvin Sampson)
Memphis
Tulsa (should be ok with Danny Manning if he stays)

No idea about USF (new coach), UCF, ECU, Tulane.

That's not a bad basketball conference. It is no old BE, but it might be ok to keep UCONN's in-conference SOS at a decent level. We still need to schedule big OOC games though.

 

[UConn9604]

Aresco at least know a thing or two about marketing unless the previous BE commissioner.

I still want to get out of this conference yesterday, but I think that if the Big East had the marketing team that the AAC has, the Big East would still exist. They're doing what a 21st Century league should have been doing all along.

 

[pj]

The AAC can be a decent league. Not far from the Big East.

But I hope we don't stick around long enough to build up its brand.

 

[sportsart]

Yeah...but...but...but...what was our conference RPI?

 

[WestCoastHusky]

The AAC can be a decent league. Not far from the Big East.

But I hope we don't stick around long enough to build up its brand.

I agree. Since we are here for now, we might as well build up our own brand. If AAC is along for the ride, so be it. It only makes our resume better if our conference mates do their part and improve.

 

[djct1999]

Unfortunately, its about money. Unless UConn gets paid, it doesn't matter how competitive the league is on the court.

 

[CL82]

Being competitive on the court will help UConn to get paid, the old BE NCAA credit money and exit fees will help in the near term. It may not end up being the steaming pile of pooh that many of us feared. Still, I'd rather be on the outside looking in at the American rather than on the inside looking out.

 

[metsfan2323]

Technically the AAC is the conference built by Dave Gavitt, we just shrewdly sold the name for a pile of cash.

Dave Gavitt's conference still works basketball miracles.

 

[uconNYC]

We are all on a basketball high right now. Once football season starts reality will hit us in the face. Just like we have a couple of basketball powers, American needs 2-3 football powers to emerge.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We need money. Aresco has to get ESPN to bump the contract or this league is dead. Even $5 or $6 million/school/year would make a huge difference over the $2 the league gets now.

 

[noeynox]

We need money. Aresco has to get ESPN to bump the contract or this league is dead. Even $5 or $6 million/school/year would make a huge difference over the $2 the league gets now.

Can't see ESPN paying more near term for the same reason they aren't creating an ACC Network. No need to. I agree they need money. They will have to hope the success now will pay dividends down the road. I hope this contract does not include a right to match offer. NBC's lowball offer really screwed this conference. ESPN must have laughed out loud when they saw the NBC offer.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Can't see ESPN paying more near term for the same reason they aren't creating an ACC Network. No need to. I agree they need money. They will have to hope the success now will pay dividends down the road. I hope this contract does not include a right to match offer. NBC's lowball offer really screwed this conference. ESPN must have laughed out loud when they saw the NBC offer.

I have my thoughts on this, that I've put out before, but there is nothign to do but wait for the football schedules to come out as far as TV slots/channels. If I'm not mistaken, this past basketball season was the first for the AAC on ESPN and I'm pretty sure every single conference game for the entire conference was on an ESPN carrier (or CBS) nationally in decent time slots (we played a lot o 9pm games this year instead of 7, but still primetime). If I'm wrong about that - somebody correct me.

I think, and it's the only thing that makes ANY sense, otherwise the NBC offer never even makes it to the table with ESPN, is that the AAC football programs will also have all of the their games on ESPN carriers (or CBS) nationally and that they will be in decent time slots.

Its essentially taking pennies on the dollar now, for exposure, and rolling the dice that success + exposure = big payout in 6 years.

In the interim, for UCONN, there is plenty of cash flow built up to sustain without a hiccup.

It's all theory until the schedules are being played in the fall, and the games on TV. So far, the basketball season has held up to the theory. So far, 4 of 12 of our football games are already slotted for national TV.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

I still want to get out of this conference yesterday, but I think that if the Big East had the marketing team that the AAC has, the Big East would still exist. They're doing what a 21st Century league should have been doing all along.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as if they're here to stay...

 

[upstater]

UCONN (Duh!)
Temple
Cincy
SMU
Houston (Kelvin Sampson)
Memphis
Tulsa (should be ok with Danny Manning if he stays)

If Memphis ever gets a coach and Temple ever recruits some players, this conference will be very tough--to say the least.

 

[CL82]

Can't see ESPN paying more near term for the same reason they aren't creating an ACC Network. No need to. I agree they need money. They will have to hope the success now will pay dividends down the road. I hope this contract does not include a right to match offer. NBC's lowball offer really screwed this conference. ESPN must have laughed out loud when they saw the NBC offer.

I suspect, but cannot prove, that they might have orchestrated it, perhaps in exchange for access to tier three quality games in ESPN's portfolio. Otherwise it was an epic miscalculation by NBC.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Can't see ESPN paying more near term for the same reason they aren't creating an ACC Network. No need to. I agree they need money. They will have to hope the success now will pay dividends down the road. I hope this contract does not include a right to match offer. NBC's lowball offer really screwed this conference. ESPN must have laughed out loud when they saw the NBC offer.

The ESPN contract is relatively short term, negotiating an extension possibly could save them money in the future.
I lot depends on next season
When we signed the contract there was some doubt that it would survive.

 

[Waquoit]

Unfortunately, its about money. Unless UConn gets paid, it doesn't matter how competitive the league is on the court.

It's not all about money. It's about winning. Would you trade place with BCU or Rutgers?

 

[djct1999]

It's not all about money. It's about winning. Would you trade place with BCU or Rutgers?

short term, no. 10 years from now if things remain static, absolutely. much of uconn's current success is still reflective of its past.

 

[Carl Spackler]

It's not all about money. It's about winning. Would you trade place with BCU or Rutgers?

THis isn't true, at least for the AAC and our relationship with it. It's entirely about both money and winning. If I am on track and correct with my thought processes, we (UCONN at least) are financially secure for the immediate future and term of the existing contract, even though the money is pure sh----t. I have no insight, or knowledge about moving to other conferences, until such day that university official announces it, we're in the AAC. So, that means to me, that we've rolled the dice with this crowd we're now with, and that winning and generating income and viewership through the exposure ESPN can provide - will allow us to cash in adequately back up to market in 6 years.

And honestly, I'd rather have SMU and Houston, and their plans and motivation and goals to succeed, and/or USF and UCF and their plans, and goals and motivation to succeed - to associate with in this gamble - than Rutgers or BCU.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

THis isn't true, at least for the AAC and our relationship with it. It's entirely about both money and winning. If I am on track and correct with my thought processes, we (UCONN at least) are financially secure for the immediate future and term of the existing contract, even though the money is pure sh----t. I have no insight, or knowledge about moving to other conferences, until such day that university official announces it, we're in the AAC. So, that means to me, that we've rolled the dice with this crowd we're now with, and that winning and generating income and viewership through the exposure ESPN can provide - will allow us to cash in adequately back up to market in 6 years.

And honestly, I'd rather have SMU and Houston, and their plans and motivation and goals to succeed, and/or USF and UCF and their plans, and goals and motivation to succeed - to associate with in this gamble - than Rutgers or BCU.

Unfortunately, the "plans and motivation" of the schools you cite are the same as those most would attribute to UCONN; to be gone from the AAC.

Of course, each AAC school polishing itself for the showroom floor could actually make the AAC a decent (not ideal!) place.

 

[garbage1171]

The AAC could have double that amount of achievements and it still wouldn't amount to a hill of beans. Until the conference can draw huge TV audiences the networks aren't willing to pay what the other power 5 leagues are making ($20+ million per team). Remember the Big East 2005-2012? That league put six different teams in the Final Four, won five BCS bowls against SEC, ACC, and Big 12 opponents, won two men's basketball championships, and I don't know how many women's basketball championships. Did anybody give the Big East any of the credit it rightfully deserved? Hell no.

So as it stands today, the AAC is a lot closer to the MWC, MAC, CUSA and Sun Belt than the ACC, Big 10, SEC, Big 12, and PAC 12. Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but that's the reality of it. You guys might be getting decent exposure from the ESPN deal but in exchange they're paying only $2 million per team. Essentially ESPN was able to underpay for the league's media rights to make more money for itself.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

The AAC could have double that amount of achievements and it still wouldn't amount to a hill of beans. Until the conference can draw huge TV audiences the networks aren't willing to pay what the other power 5 leagues are making ($20+ million per team). Remember the Big East 2005-2012? That league put six different teams in the Final Four, won five BCS bowls against SEC, ACC, and Big 12 opponents, won two men's basketball championships, and I don't know how many women's basketball championships. Did anybody give the Big East any of the credit it rightfully deserved? Hell no.

So as it stands today, the AAC is a lot closer to the MWC, MAC, CUSA and Sun Belt than the ACC, Big 10, SEC, Big 12, and PAC 12. Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but that's the reality of it. You guys might be getting decent exposure from the ESPN deal but in exchange they're paying only $2 million per team. Essentially ESPN was able to underpay for the league's media rights to make more money for itself.

All the achievements of the Big East were squandered from a PR sense by the bozo's who ran that league. It was run like Le Casa Nostra , almost with a fear someone would discover us and ruin everything.

The point of the OP was that the AAC seems to get the PR game a lot better than the Big East. Either dispute that ,add to that or take you leave.
Thank you for your interest in a UConn athletics.