Mike Aresco addresses UConn's departure, the impact on his American Athletic Conference moving forward

[huskyrob1]

Mark my words. There will never be a Power 6..

Especially now that the only flagship University in the conference just bolted and also told ESPN to go f............kthmslvs. Aresco and ESPN to not consider that UConn might do what they did is just mind boggling. This whole deal is going to fall apart and if this were a poker game I'd say UConn is holding all the cards. It's likely Aresco gets canned because of this, ESPN is pissed because the subscription revenue they were banking on is gone, and the remaining AAC schools can't be too vengeful in soaking UConn with a high exit fee if they ever want to play UConn in any sports again.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I think the real issue is that Aresco didn't think the ESPN+ component of the deal (streaming) was a big issue and he didn't think there was much of an exposure issue of watching games on ESPN+ vs SNY. In fact, for those out of market, ESPN+ makes more sense to purchase than SNY as there will be a lot more content. And please, some people need to stop with the "ESPN+ can only be watched on my computer" nonsense. By the time the AAC contract starts, it will be widely available by a couple of clicks on your TV.

Bought a Roku streaming stick over the weekend. ESPN+ is one of the four shortcut buttons on the remote control along with Netflix, Sling and Hulu.

 

[whaler11]

Bought a Roku streaming stick over the weekend. ESPN+ is one of the four shortcut buttons on the remote control along with Netflix, Sling and Hulu.

Yeah some of the prior services on those buttons were huge winners.

 

[Alum86]

Yeah some of the prior services on those buttons were huge winners.

LOL. I Have a ROKU 1 with Blockbuster as a dedicated button.

 

[noeynox]

The more I have thought about this, I have come up with a different take. Let's say UConn was getting $1 million per year for women's basketball. That works out to ~$83k per AAC basketball school, which means the money really didn't matter to the other schools. Even if the AAC took $2 million per year less on the contract to exclude women's basketball, that amounts to $166k per school per year. I really don't think the other schools would want UConn to leave over ~$100k per year per school.

Plus, I think too many people have made too much of the ESPN+ part of the deal as more sports are going streaming and bundled cable packages are not the future. Big 12 entered into a similar contract with ESPN.

I think the real issue is that Aresco didn't think the ESPN+ component of the deal (streaming) was a big issue and he didn't think there was much of an exposure issue of watching games on ESPN+ vs SNY. In fact, for those out of market, ESPN+ makes more sense to purchase than SNY as there will be a lot more content. And please, some people need to stop with the "ESPN+ can only be watched on my computer" nonsense. By the time the AAC contract starts, it will be widely available by a couple of clicks on your TV.

Bottom line, the AAC media contract was not lucrative enough to keep UConn in the AAC. If the deal was $15 million per year, I think UConn would have stayed in the AAC.

I think 10 million would have kept them there. At a fake 7 million, its a little more half than we used to get in the Big East. That's just not worth the hassle of the olympic sports when there is a better option available.

I'm with you on the ESPN+ THING. Streaming, is the future. I heard Val Ackerman with Andy Katz today. She hinted streaming is in the Big East's future plans as well.

 

[noeynox]

Yeah some of the prior services on those buttons were huge winners.

Vudu?

But ESPN+ is not going to fizzle out. It will probably be more like Netflix. A staple in every home.

 

[whaler11]

Vudu?

But ESPN+ is not going to fizzle out. It will probably be more like Netflix. A staple in every home.

I don’t think it will fizzle out but it’s not going to be like linear ESPN that was in 100 million homes. The button doesn’t say ESPN+ either. + is just inside the current ESPN app.

 

[UConnJim]

I don’t think it will fizzle out but it’s not going to be like linear ESPN that was in 100 million homes. The button doesn’t say ESPN+ either. + is just inside the current ESPN app.

Unfortunately for Disney, the subscriber count for ESPN is ~85 million and falling right now which is why ESPN+ was introduced for an additional revenue stream. Streaming is the way things are going and I always thought streaming would play to UConn's strengths, especially if UConn was compensated directly for their content based on subs and not part of a conference package.

For example, if UConn was able to sell a service that allowed you to watch all UConn sports for $3/month as part of the current cable bundle in Connecticut (Lets say 1 million cable and satellite subs in Connecticut get it bundled) and as an available app outside of Connecticut for $3/month, it's not inconceivable that you could gross $40 million per year and net UConn $20 million per year.

 

[Chia Pet]

This guy is hardly an endorsement of UConns law school. He sounds immaturely vindictive.

If UConn negotiates for a reduced exit fee, he’s really downplaying the “damages” the conference is suffering.

If he was bright, he’d try to arrange keeping UConn FB only, then add UMass and Buffalo as FB only too. At reduced payout. Adds NY and NE eyeballs, potential rivalries, and creates a second core in the Northeast.

Opportunity’s knocking but he’s sleeping.

 

[UConnJim]

This guy is hardly an endorsement of UConns law school. He sounds immaturely vindictive.

If UConn negotiates for a reduced exit fee, he’s really downplaying the “damages” the conference is suffering.

If he was bright, he’d try to arrange keeping UConn FB only, then add UMass and Buffalo as FB only too. At reduced payout. Adds NY and NE eyeballs, potential rivalries, and creates a second core in the Northeast.

Opportunity’s knocking but he’s sleeping.

The Northeast dream is over for the AAC. The only reason the AAC was in the Northeast was UConn. BTW, UMass and Buffalo do not move the needle at all and I am really surprised UMass is still playing FBS football.

The AAC schools are waiting to see what happens with the Big 12 over the next few years. Do some schools leave? Will they remain at 10 schools? If the Big 12 took 2 schools from Houston, Cincinnati, and UCF, the AAC is finished. If four schools left the Big 12, would UConn even get an invite to a reconstituted Big 12? UConn moved proactively instead of waiting to see what happens down the road.

 

[UConnRock]

Chia, this would be your division set up. I would certainly work and add interest on a regional level. Would certainly limit travel. Problem being, I don't think ESPN would up the payment much at all and and the two new teams would dilute finances.

Another problem is that if you offer UConn this deal, Cincy would want to jump back into the BE in basketball ASAP with the same agreement.

UConn, UMass, Temple, Navy, Buffalo, Cincinnati, USF

SMU, Houston, Tulane, Tulsa, Memphis, ECU, UCF

 

[businesslawyer]

Given this is ESPN's last best chance to stick it to us they may throw the AAC a bone and lowball the departure depreciation estimates. But the league is damaged. It has lost a top tier product and there is no comparable replacement on the horizon. Another FL school is redundant for the league and I wonder if a school like UMass would even be interested as their NE presence. They might not be.

How are we damaged exactly by anything ESPN does to the AAC after we're gone?

 

[noeynox]

I don’t think it will fizzle out but it’s not going to be like linear ESPN that was in 100 million homes. The button doesn’t say ESPN+ either. + is just inside the current ESPN app.

If they get one of those buttons, that has to be huge. I think the 4 buttons now are Netflix, Hulu, Sling, and HBO now. Mine has 2 services that have gone by the wayside Vudu and something else. Netflix has like 140 million paying customers, i don't think plus will get that many, but i wouldn't doubt they come close to that 100 million number.

I thought @Chin Diesel said it was one of the four buttons.

 

[Chin Diesel]

If they get one of those buttons, that has to be huge. I think the 4 buttons now are Netflix, Hulu, Sling, and HBO now. Mine has 2 services that have gone by the wayside Vudu and something else. Netflix has like 140 million paying customers, i don't think plus will get that many, but i wouldn't doubt they come close to that 100 million number.

I thought @Chin Diesel said it was one of the four buttons.

This is what the Roku I bought over the weekend has on it. I've seen several remotes over the past few years and button selections are everchanging.

 

[noeynox]

This is what the Roku I bought over the weekend has on it. I've seen several remotes over the past few years and button selections are everchanging.

Netflix has never left. I think +, will lock one of those down as well.

 

[whaler11]

Netflix has never left. I think +, will lock one of those down as well.

my bad. thought it would just be an ESPN button without the plus. Maybe they are moving towards a separate app for plus - the way it is set up now kind of sucks.

I don’t know who owns Roku but I imagine one pays for the real estate if there isn’t a corporate relationship.

ive gone through like 6 rokus - don’t think i’ve ever used one of those buttons.

 

[Exit 4]

I don’t know who owns Roku but I imagine one pays for the real estate if there isn’t a corporate relationship.

I was thinking the same thing - that button = real estate = drain on that budget to pay the underlying sports behind the pay wall.

 

[whaler11]

I was thinking the same thing - that button = real estate = drain on that budget to pay the underlying sports behind the pay wall.

disney + is going to make it viable. Without that I don’t see how they were ever going to be able to make the math work.

 

[billybud]

Roku gets 20-30% estimated for sign ups for streaming services...

Disney said it has reached a deal to give Disney+ prominent display with Roku users. Laura Martin of Needham & Co., in a research note Tuesday, said that Roku will get a share of the revenue generated by people signing up for the new service.

 

[Husky25]

I give Aresco another year or 2 unless he's good with swimming upstream to collect a paycheck. He never had a lot of cards to play, and when the decision was made to not accommodate a major asset in the last contract he's dealt himself a terrible hand. Nothing personal, just business.

If he's forced out, does the AAC bring back UConn as a football-only? Does the AAC even exist? Does UConn show other schools how to navigate independence? Does this blow the whole system up?

I hate what this is doing to the football program, especially the look in the initial stages. Maybe it works out and I'm coming around to it just might, but I would love for the adult program who was forced to sit at the card table to be the monkey in the wrench.

 

[noeynox]

my bad. thought it would just be an ESPN button without the plus. Maybe they are moving towards a separate app for plus - the way it is set up now kind of sucks.

I don’t know who owns Roku but I imagine one pays for the real estate if there isn’t a corporate relationship.

ive gone through like 6 rokus - don’t think i’ve ever used one of those buttons.

I have to imagine its not cheap real estate either. I have a Roku TV and have owned Rokus as well. They are my least favorite streaming device.

 

[whaler11]

I have to imagine its not cheap real estate either. I have a Roku TV and have owned Rokus as well. They are my least favorite streaming device.

the firestick blows. what a horrible interface. at least on roku i can delete all the flotsam

 

[noeynox]

the firestick blows. what a horrible interface. at least on roku i can delete all the flotsam

I prefer the Amazon fire products. Mainly because their guides For playstation vue are way more functional.

 

[Chia Pet]

Chia, this would be your division set up. I would certainly work and add interest on a regional level. Would certainly limit travel. Problem being, I don't think ESPN would up the payment much at all and and the two new teams would dilute finances.

Another problem is that if you offer UConn this deal, Cincy would want to jump back into the BE in basketball ASAP with the same agreement.

UConn, UMass, Temple, Navy, Buffalo, Cincinnati, USF

SMU, Houston, Tulane, Tulsa, Memphis, ECU, UCF

Would 1/3 of a full share be enough to park football? How much does UMass earn as a football independent? How much does Buffalo get from the MAC? Where would they put their other sports?

A little marketing could respark the UConn UMass rivalry in the 33rd largest media market. That’s got to be worth something.

I don’t think Cincy would ever be invited back to the Big East so I’m not sure that’s a realistic threat.

 

[uconnfan68]

I give Aresco another year or 2 unless he's good with swimming upstream to collect a paycheck. He never had a lot of cards to play, and when the decision was made to not accommodate a major asset in the last contract he's dealt himself a terrible hand. Nothing personal, just business.

He’s going to be 69-70 soon enough. He’s made enough to retire well.