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

[uchusky32]

Rule # 2. ESPN blanks UConn. So expect The AAC to get more money from ESPN.

 

[Sonofabeach]

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.

I also have this one and works great for the Xfinity app, so I don't need a cable box for the bedroom

 

[businesslawyer]

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.

How does adding Buffalo and UMass add eyeballs. That requires that someone cares enough to watch them play on television.

 

[Chia Pet]

How does adding Buffalo and UMass add eyeballs. That requires that someone cares enough to watch them play on television.

What? Versus Tulsa and Tulane?

All three schools have undergrad enrollment over 20K.
If their FB could be bought for $2M a year it’s a bargain.
The potential exists to build a rivalry between UMass and UConn.
Two of three FBS teams in New England. The third is scared of rivalries.
CT and MA are the 3rd and 4th most densely populated states. That’s a lot of people with little college football options.
People enjoy football in NE (as in Patriots).
UMass and UConn playing as independents is an exhibition game. In the same league they could be playing for something.
D3 Williams Amherst routinely draws >10K for the “Biggest little game in America”. ESPN did college game day there.
Easy accessibility by fan bases.
And the same potential exists for Buffalo yo a lesser extent.

Go ahead, pick one of those points and base your whole counter argument on that.

Again interested people (students and grads), rivalries, and playing for something drives interest.

 

[UCONN in OKC]

I don't care for ESPN.... I do care about UConn, where ever they are shown I will tune to it. If they move to FS sport that is where my remote channel will be moving to. The only time ESPN will get me to watch them is when UConn is playing on it if on National TV, if it is behind a pay wall then I will read about it on the internet or watch it on youtube after. They are not getting a penny more from me.... They are responsible in the situation the university is in. I will not forget that.

 

[businesslawyer]

What? Versus Tulsa and Tulane?

All three schools have undergrad enrollment over 20K.
If their FB could be bought for $2M a year it’s a bargain.
The potential exists to build a rivalry between UMass and UConn.
Two of three FBS teams in New England. The third is scared of rivalries.
CT and MA are the 3rd and 4th most densely populated states. That’s a lot of people with little college football options.
People enjoy football in NE (as in Patriots).
UMass and UConn playing as independents is an exhibition game. In the same league they could be playing for something.
D3 Williams Amherst routinely draws >10K for the “Biggest little game in America”. ESPN did college game day there.
Easy accessibility by fan bases.
And the same potential exists for Buffalo yo a lesser extent.

Go ahead, pick one of those points and base your whole counter argument on that.

Again interested people (students and grads), rivalries, and playing for something drives interest.

You're trying to argue who people should want to watch play, as opposed to who they do watch play. Not a discussion worth having.

 

[Chia Pet]

You're trying to argue who people should want to watch play, as opposed to who they do watch play. Not a discussion worth having.

I’m not arguing anything. Just said I felt this was a missed opportunity and stated why. I believe that is the purpose of fan forums.

 

[businesslawyer]

Missing lower level northeastern opponents is not a missed opportunity for the American. Possibly for UConn and Temple, but not for anyone else.

 

[Chia Pet]

Missing lower level northeastern opponents is not a missed opportunity for the American. Possibly for UConn and Temple, but not for anyone else.

You’re right. Not a conversation worth having. Have a happy 4th!

 

[HuskyHawk]

Rule # 2. ESPN blanks UConn. So expect The AAC to get more money from ESPN.

Rumor on Reddit is that ESPN is telling the AAC they will drop the payout $2M a year per member if the AAC doesn't keep UConn for football. I mean, it's only a rumor, but that would be simply delightful.

 

[weyuo]

The P6 marketing campaign is the worst part.

I cringe every time I see people running around with P6 flag. I have to change the station when that ‘power’ AAC tv spot is on.

I cringe every time I see 5 conferences claim that they deserve special TV privilege and placement in tournaments that determine national championships.

 

[Dooooooomed]

Rumor on Reddit is that ESPN is telling the AAC they will drop the payout $2M a year per member if the AAC doesn't keep UConn for football. I mean, it's only a rumor, but that would be simply delightful.

LOL. That would be the funniest thing ever.

 

[Storrs South]

Rumor on Reddit is that ESPN is telling the AAC they will drop the payout $2M a year per member if the AAC doesn't keep UConn for football. I mean, it's only a rumor, but that would be simply delightful.

Link?

 

[uconnfan68]

Rumor on Reddit is that ESPN is telling the AAC they will drop the payout $2M a year per member if the AAC doesn't keep UConn for football. I mean, it's only a rumor, but that would be simply delightful.

And keep tier 3 rights for it too.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Link?

I’m sure it’s not true. Looked and I can’t find where I saw it.

 

[browndog319]

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.

It’s actually not if you use Sling to stream TV. If you bought Sling Blue, you’re blocked. I ran into this for some game last year. It’s actually a thing. So it is a problem... and some of us bought that package for football. So keep acting like it’s no big deal. You clearly had a provider where it wasn’t blocked. Not everyone has that and I don’t feel like having multiple TV streaming services...

 

[hardcorehusky]

I went with FUBO which has everything but ESPN. Best move I ever did.

 

[browndog319]

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

But it wasn’t always on it. I had the first generation Roku and it didn’t have any buttons like that - just the purple ones. I think I got it in 2008.

 

[huskymedic]

More of a rehash but couple of interesting blurbs in this Capital Gazette article:

American Athletic Conference commissioner not concerned about Connecticut departure

For the past week or so, commissioner Mike Aresco has been conducting interviews with most of the newspapers that cover member schools of the American Athletic Conference. Aresco’s message ha…

www.capitalgazette.com

>>Aresco had planned to take a vacation to Europe this week, but that was postponed so he could address this situation.<<

>>There is a provision in the new media rights contract that allows ESPN to renegotiate because of Connecticut’s departure. Naturally, Aresco was not eager to discuss any potential changes to the deal.

“We’re going to sit down with ESPN fairly soon. We have a great relationship with ESPN,” Aresco said. “Obviously we hope that the impact is minimal, but I really don’t want to get into it. I don’t want to do anything that would put them on the spot. We’re still a powerful conference in both revenue sports.”<<

 

[The Moose]

How much would a school expect to pay a year in “production” costs that they need to cover under the new deal?

 

[BFieldHusky]

More of a rehash but couple of interesting blurbs in this Capital Gazette article:

American Athletic Conference commissioner not concerned about Connecticut departure

For the past week or so, commissioner Mike Aresco has been conducting interviews with most of the newspapers that cover member schools of the American Athletic Conference. Aresco’s message ha…

www.capitalgazette.com

>>Aresco had planned to take a vacation to Europe this week, but that was postponed so he could address this situation.<<

>>There is a provision in the new media rights contract that allows ESPN to renegotiate because of Connecticut’s departure. Naturally, Aresco was not eager to discuss any potential changes to the deal.

“We’re going to sit down with ESPN fairly soon. We have a great relationship with ESPN,” Aresco said. “Obviously we hope that the impact is minimal, but I really don’t want to get into it. I don’t want to do anything that would put them on the spot. We’re still a powerful conference in both revenue sports.”<<

There is a provision in the new media rights contract that allows ESPN to renegotiate because of Connecticut’s departure. Naturally, Aresco was not eager to discuss any potential changes to the deal.

Funny how fans of the other schools in the American don't want to acknowledge this "little nugget."

 

[CL82]

There is a provision in the new media rights contract that allows ESPN to renegotiate because of Connecticut’s departure. Naturally, Aresco was not eager to discuss any potential changes to the deal.

Funny how fans of the other schools in the American don't want to acknowledge this "little nugget."

What I want to know is whether the provision is "any team", specifically UConn or UConn and a few others.

 

[CL82]

“It didn’t come as a huge surprise. We knew it could possibly happen... Aresco said. “There have been rumors percolating for years. They had expressed their unhappiness in various ways. We thought that discontent was misguided.”

#ThanksMikekeeptalking

 

[browndog319]

What I want to know is whether the provision is "any team", specifically UConn or UConn and a few others.

I would have to imagine it’s the ones that were at the highest risk during the B12 expansion talks. Tulane and ECU do not an interesting conference make...

 

[whaler11]

How much would a school expect to pay a year in “production” costs that they need to cover under the new deal?

The complicated case of the Pac-12 Networks

www.sportsbusinessdaily.com

according to this article - it costs the pac 12 15-25k to put a live olympic sport event on their network.

Wazzu AD says... maybe we should cut back at the end.

I’m sure it’s less to put something on +... but if you do 100-200 events a year that is going to add up.