If Dave Benedict Doesn't Achieve Something Substantial By End of July Should UConn HIre a Consulting Firm?

[PAGS]

Go listen to his interview today on XM ESPNU radio...it’s more reassuring and the situation make a little more sense. They seem 100% committed to football

 

[ASweet3781]

Go listen to his interview today on XM ESPNU radio...it’s more reassuring and the situation make a little more sense. They seem 100% committed to football

Do you have a link? Can't find it.

 

[formerlurker]

I vote we run all legal questions through Carter Mario.

 

[gtcam]

Please - just stop. We get it. Your football team got screwed. That's your opinion and its not shared by a whole lot of people.

and your opinion isn't shared by a whole bunch of other people
you call yourself a hukeynut yet don't consider the football team as your team?

 

[Portico]

The big thing people are forgetting that I believe @Guapo initially noted is it is going to be expensive for schools to have to produce content on their own for ESPN+. That's the big thing here. And that tweet is wrong because ESPN can renegotiate the deal so that 7.7 ain't happening.

If the PAC-12 is struggling to do it, it is going to be really difficult for the AAC when every school is already subsidizing their AD's as is.

Houston Chronicle said that the loss of Uconn does not trigger contract renegotiations. Aresco states today the league can stay at 11 if they choose to do so. Also, the costs cant be that much to produce content as Sun Belt and Conf USA teams also pay production costs for most sports and those two conf conferences make peanuts.

Everything from todays media reporting indicates that Uconn expected to keep football in the American. Aresco has sat a fat no to that desire. Not sure where Uconn goes Next.

 

[Nextmanup]

Do you have a link? Can't find it.

6-28 Tiki Barber CBS Sports Minute on UConn Football - CBS Sports Minute

Tiki examines the football perspective on UConn's return to the Big East for all other sports.

omny.fm

 

[UConnNick]

Hmm the AP story at the time specifically says UConn leaving triggers a renegotiation of the contract.
The ESPN contract also includes language that would protect the network, should marquee schools, such as UCF, Cincinnati or UConn leave for another conference.

I think what is now beginning to emerge is Aresco and Benedict seem to have some fairly long standing animosity between them. Perhaps giving away our Tier 3 rights was Aresco's way of flipping the double eagle bird at Benedict. Yes, we wanted to leave before the media contract was finalized, but Benedict thought he could booze and schmooze Aresco long enough to talk him into some accomodation for keeping football in the AAC.

I Think I know what's coming. We file a lawsuit against the AAC on fiduciary grounds and a total lack of transparency on the media rights deal. The league countersues. Then WWIII breaks out.

This suit will likely be long term and potentially devestating, possibly running easily into millions of dollars in attorney's fees and court costs. Nobody wins.

So early on, you float a trial balloon. You get together with Mr. Aresco, talk about how you don't know why the relationship got out of hand, and you make a proposal to him. UConn stays in the AAC, you can decrease or totally eliminate our annual share of the bowl revenue. We should stand firm on only one point: we should at least get our usual share of the bowl revenue from any bowls we play in. You work out all the other details, lawsuit is over and everybody parts friends.

One other thing that I hesitate to
mention. If Aresco is any good at his job, he'll no doubt mention the exit fee. I think we should agree to pay something, but nowhere near the full 10 million. We did remove our Olympic sports teams, which has a value attached to it. I'd say we offer three, he counters with seven, and we end somewhere in
between, hopefully 4 or 4.50

I think Aresco will go for this if Benedict plays his cards correctly. He could even propose it before filing suit, though in the mood Aresco's in right now Benedict would likely get tossed from the room by a couple of burly Providence wiseguys.

As for selling it to the conference membership, I think Aresco may have one small problem wih that. Assuming they are unanimous in wanting to see UConn in their rear view mirror, they'd all side with Aresco, right? But if the lawsuit is filed, they're then collectively on the hook for the legal fees and expenses. Right now Tulsa is in pretty dire shape financially across the board. The media deal probably greatly favors them. They don't want to see it all get eaten up by endless attorney's fees and costs, and they can't afford it. They're going to want to settle. They will likely talk with SMU and Tulsa, who may also agree, even though the money issue doesn't affect them as badly as Tulsa. If these three schools get together on this, I think we have a good chance to settle it early before it turns into Kevin Ollie, Part II.

This whole mess is just another example of our AD and school administration deciding to do something without thinking it through, like a toddler who slips and falls into the deep end of a pool with no life jacket on.

OK, the story leaked. Hahaha...what a surprise! These stories always leak. Tell somebody something over cocktails at dinner, swear them to secrecy, and then the whole world knows tomorrow. We should have been fully prepared for that contingency. We were not. Same old story. We look like village idiots nationally.

BTW, I think I read somewhere (don't ask me to remember where) that ESPN had decided they won't try to renegotiate the AAC media deal.

 

[SonsOfNutmeg]

Hope AD Dave Benedict can achieve something for UConn football soon. If everything remains up in the air or falls down to the ground, should UConn hire a consulting firm to work with Fox, SNY and the AAC? There are retired ADs and TV executives out there that help colleges in such situations. I am not getting a great feeling based on recent news. Hope I am wrong. The cost of the consultant may pay for itself in intermediate term.

One interesting name to help us best navigate the FBS Independent move would be Mike Tranghese, Former Big East commissioner. He also was on the first CFB Playoff committee. He’s 76 now, but has a great mind for college athletics and knows the players in and out. Might be a huge help. Wouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t already spoken with him.

 

[huskymedic]

One interesting name to help us best navigate the FBS Independent move would be Mike Tranghese, Former Big East commissioner. He also was on the first CFB Playoff committee. He’s 76 now, but has a great mind for college athletics and knows the players in and out. Might be a huge help. Wouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t already spoken with him.

Tranghese was under contract w/ UConn as a consultant starting in 2016. Unaware of the termination date...

 

[Yardigan]

What a great idea. Yes. That is exactly how successful businesspeople behave. First, act. Then, only after, talk to a consultant to determine how you prevent your action from leading to the result that it is most likely to lead to.

Fire! Aim! Ready!

 

[Skiblets]

Hmm the AP story at the time specifically says UConn leaving triggers a renegotiation of the contract.
The ESPN contract also includes language that would protect the network, should marquee schools, such as UCF, Cincinnati or UConn leave for another conference.

So the AAC loses the found money from our SNY contract AND ESPN can now negotiate them down due to one of the anchor schools leaving. Me thinks the billion dollar contract Aresco was touting is going to go poof quickly once ESPN is through with the AAC. This is not a case of the remaining schools splitting the original amounts with one less mouth to feed.

If I'm Benedict, I'm calling Cincy and giving them Fox's and Ackerman's numbers while talking to them about a scheduling alliance in football and hoops... Our move will have the biggest impact on them and Temple I believe and their ADs are probably now trying to figure out their best moves

 

[StunningSteve]

OK, the story leaked. Hahaha...what a surprise! These stories always leak. Tell somebody something over cocktails at dinner, swear them to secrecy, and then the whole world knows tomorrow. We should have been fully prepared for that contingency. We were not. Same old story. We look like village idiots nationally.

I'm still amazed at how this story broke...

This random website nobody has ever heard of comes out with the story...

Obviously whoever was behind that website release wasn't that interested in journalism (and making a name by having a story first)…
It was clearly someone who wanted to set off a desired chain of events. Perhaps the total ruination of UConn FB, who knows.. (the Catholics simply feel threatened by any semblance of heartbeat in that program)

 

[HuskyHawk]

Hope AD Dave Benedict can achieve something for UConn football soon. If everything remains up in the air or falls down to the ground, should UConn hire a consulting firm to work with Fox, SNY and the AAC? There are retired ADs and TV executives out there that help colleges in such situations. I am not getting a great feeling based on recent news. Hope I am wrong. The cost of the consultant may pay for itself in intermediate term.

There is one way to ensure failure in any endeavor...hire a consulting firm.

 

[Pudge]

I SAY LET'S - in spite of whatever businesslawyer says - go to Newport. Eat the clams sneak a beer & throw Big Apples at Aresco.

I think his posture and tone the last few days has been off. We went along with the titanic shift to Dallas and all the schools, scheduling and empty gyms. Just let it be ... you aren't the rejected girlfriend. You just did not fit what we needed. I am curious what we would have done if the $$ was more like double. I think - my sense - is we would have done the same.

 

[gampelcrazies]

Do you have a link? Can't find it.

I’ll have this up soon

 

[businesslawyer]

That is not exactly what Aresco said. He appears to state that UConn will be gone after this year, almost as if the AAC is kicking UConn out.

He's not going to throw us out earlier than the contract term, unless we agree to that. If he does, we'll have a case. But that's not going to happen.

 

[John Greene]

He's not going to throw us out earlier than the contract term, unless we agree to that. If he does, we'll have a case. But that's not going to happen.

Please do not confuse some posters here with legal knowledge. Not only did they stay at a Holiday Inn Express, they also binge watched Perry Mason last month.

 

[businesslawyer]

I think what is now beginning to emerge is Aresco and Benedict seem to have some fairly long standing animosity between them. Perhaps giving away our Tier 3 rights was Aresco's way of flipping the double eagle bird at Benedict. Yes, we wanted to leave before the media contract was finalized, but Benedict thought he could booze and schmooze Aresco long enough to talk him into some accomodation for keeping football in the AAC.

I Think I know what's coming. We file a lawsuit against the AAC on fiduciary grounds and a total lack of transparency on the media rights deal. The league countersues. Then WWIII breaks out.

This suit will likely be long term and potentially devestating, possibly running easily into millions of dollars in attorney's fees and court costs. Nobody wins.

So early on, you float a trial balloon. You get together with Mr. Aresco, talk about how you don't know why the relationship got out of hand, and you make a proposal to him. UConn stays in the AAC, you can decrease or totally eliminate our annual share of the bowl revenue. We should stand firm on only one point: we should at least get our usual share of the bowl revenue from any bowls we play in. You work out all the other details, lawsuit is over and everybody parts friends.

One other thing that I hesitate to
mention. If Aresco is any good at his job, he'll no doubt mention the exit fee. I think we should agree to pay something, but nowhere near the full 10 million. We did remove our Olympic sports teams, which has a value attached to it. I'd say we offer three, he counters with seven, and we end somewhere in
between, hopefully 4 or 4.50

I think Aresco will go for this if Benedict plays his cards correctly. He could even propose it before filing suit, though in the mood Aresco's in right now Benedict would likely get tossed from the room by a couple of burly Providence wiseguys.

As for selling it to the conference membership, I think Aresco may have one small problem wih that. Assuming they are unanimous in wanting to see UConn in their rear view mirror, they'd all side with Aresco, right? But if the lawsuit is filed, they're then collectively on the hook for the legal fees and expenses. Right now Tulsa is in pretty dire shape financially across the board. The media deal probably greatly favors them. They don't want to see it all get eaten up by endless attorney's fees and costs, and they can't afford it. They're going to want to settle. They will likely talk with SMU and Tulsa, who may also agree, even though the money issue doesn't affect them as badly as Tulsa. If these three schools get together on this, I think we have a good chance to settle it early before it turns into Kevin Ollie, Part II.

This whole mess is just another example of our AD and school administration deciding to do something without thinking it through, like a toddler who slips and falls into the deep end of a pool with no life jacket on.

OK, the story leaked. Hahaha...what a surprise! These stories always leak. Tell somebody something over cocktails at dinner, swear them to secrecy, and then the whole world knows tomorrow. We should have been fully prepared for that contingency. We were not. Same old story. We look like village idiots nationally.

BTW, I think I read somewhere (don't ask me to remember where) that ESPN had decided they won't try to renegotiate the AAC media deal.

There is no breach of fiduciary duty because a fiduciary selects between options that favor some schools over others in various scenarios. That gets thrown out on summary judgment.

People should stop pretending that there is some magic trick that is going to save us. What will save us is fans buying tickets, win or lose, and the team winning, before we give up. That's your magic bullet. I don't see that happening but lawyers aren't going to save the football program.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Please do not confuse some posters here with legal knowledge. Not only did they stay at a Holy day Inn Express, they also binge watched Perry Mason last month.

C’mon, lame Lame Duck Susie said “no ‘Holy day Inn’ in the huddle.

 

[John Greene]

There is no breach of fiduciary duty because a fiduciary selects between options that favor some schools over others in various scenarios. That gets thrown out on summary judgment.

People should stop pretending that there is some magic trick that is going to save us. What will save us is fans buying tickets, win or lose, and the team winning, before we give up. That's your magic bullet. I don't see that happening but lawyers aren't going to save the football program.

Wait just one minute! Do you mean that the head of a voluntary organization made up of institutions of higher education, with legal staffs, may have a lower level of duty than a trustee for a 5 year old orphan?

 

[John Greene]

C’mon, lame Lame Duck Susie said “no ‘Holy day Inn’ in the huddle.

thanks corrected that, hopefully before Susie found it.

 

[billybud]

Jeez Louise...

Sure.... UConn football and basketball can stay for the full 27 months required before moving to the BE.

But..UConn has said that it does not want to do that, but rather desires to begin playing in the BE at an earlier date (2020-2021).

The minute that UConn becomes a member of the Big East, is the minute that the AAC's responsibility for the football program terminates.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

thanks corrected that, hopefully before Susie found it.

Too late, she’s on to you pal

 

[businesslawyer]

Wait just one minute! Do you mean that the head of a voluntary organization made up of institutions of higher education, with legal staffs, may have a lower level of duty than a trustee for a 5 year old orphan?

Did you even read what I wrote? Serving as a trustee for a single child is totally different, because you have a responsibility to that one child and just that one child. When you are a fiduciary through a business relationship, your duty is to your members/shareholders collectively. You can't have a duty to act in the best interests of each of a number of members/shareholders because often their desires and needs will differ.

The CEO of Wal-Mart has a fiduciary duty to his shareholders. Some shareholders are focused on short term gain and others on long term gain depending on their investment horizons. Some times, the CEO has to make decisions that favor one group or the other. He is not violating a fiduciary duty to those who want short term gain when he takes an action that, while favored by some stakeholders and opposed by others, he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of Wal-Mart as a whole.

 

[CL82]

Did you even read what I wrote? Serving as a trustee for a single child is totally different, because you have a responsibility to that one child and just that one child. When you are a fiduciary through a business relationship, your duty is to your members/shareholders collectively. You can't have a duty to act in the best interests of each of a number of members/shareholders because often their desires and needs will differ.

The CEO of Wal-Mart has a fiduciary duty to his shareholders. Some shareholders are focused on short term gain and others on long term gain depending on their investment horizons. Some times, the CEO has to make decisions that favor one group or the other. He is not violating a fiduciary duty to those who want short term gain when he takes an action that, while favored by some stakeholders and opposed by others, he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of Wal-Mart as a whole.

Probably not the best analogy, since the American isn't publicly traded with a broad shareholder group. The better analogy with probably be to a minority partnership interest. Numerous states give partners protections but most of those really are just the ability to leave and be compensated for the ownership interest or alternatively compel dissolution. In our case the fact that Aresco took steps that injured us and no one else, probably helps our narrative if we were going to court, but we aren't. We'll negotiate our exit fee and timing and reach an agreement. Our ace in the hole? If they don't let us early a no (or little) cost, we'll stay and get another share of bowl fees and NCAA credits.