Mike Aresco promoting American-P6 yesterday on ESPN radio | The Boneyard

Mike Aresco promoting American-P6 yesterday on ESPN radio

whaler11

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Excellent interview. Aresco was the right choice to lead the AAC. His TV experience is invaluable. He is a passionate promoter of the P6 movement and I am confident that he will negotiate a much better TV deal In a couple years. This is a long interview. It begins at about the 28 minute mark. Enjoy!

May 10, 2017 - Hour 1 with guest AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco

Is this like when Bob Diaco was the passionate promoter of UConn football.

Can you please give us a number you expect for the next contract. What's 'much better'?
 

UConnDan97

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Is this like when Bob Diaco was the passionate promoter of UConn football.

Can you please give us a number you expect for the next contract. What's 'much better'?

He's not going to be able to get us a contract anywhere close to what the other P6 conferences are getting. (See what I did there?) Nobody would be able to. Literally nobody.

But having said that, there is no doubt in my mind that he is the person most capable of making lemons or of lemonade. People moan about the supposed exposure that he got for us in the last negotiating cycle, which was a rigged cycle due to the previous Big East contract favoring an ESPN final decision. But he actually DID get us great exposure. UCONN sports teams are on tv all the time, and on channels that are not getting a 0.0001 rating. It has kept us in the national conversation, and for that, I thank him. I don't know what else people want him to do, or why they are so quick to criticise him when he's clearly fighting the good fight...
 

UC1995

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Next round of negotiations Tier 3 has to be on the table for teams to negotiate with other programming. Uconn Women and Men's B Ball and Football could make 4-5 million more if negotiate with SNY.
 
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Is this like when Bob Diaco was the passionate promoter of UConn football.

Can you please give us a number you expect for the next contract. What's 'much better'?

Mike Aresco makes no bones about the fact that the American is not trying to be the B1G or the SEC. He explained that the American had to be different and play on Thursday and Friday nights to gain notoriety. He used an airline analogy that compared the AAC with Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines and the P5 to American, United and Delta. They were upstart innovators and are now household names in the airline industry.

Aresco further states in the interview that he doesn't expect P5 money but believes the American has a proven track record and must continue to improve. They talked about how the American is closer to a P5 than a G5.

We should all be encouraged that a former high ranking Sports TV executive is leading the charge in promoting the P6 argument. With the impressive football wins over P5 competition, national championships in Men's and Women's basketball and the additions of Navy and Wichita State, they have a pretty good product for Aresco to sell. According to Aresco he will be selling it to multiple networks including "new media" like Amazon

Although making predictions are fun, I frankly have no idea what the final dollar amount will be. However with the AAC TV football contract coming up after the 2019 season and basketball in 2020, I wouldn't bet against Aresco negotiating a good deal. The P6 label together with competing new media outlets, Amazon, Yahoo, Facebook, etc should create some interesting negotiations.

Consider what Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, had to say about new media:

The reality is more complicated and less certain. Like newspapers before them, ESPN and Fox will grapple with disruption to their business model and ultimately may have to remake themselves if they want to continue to thrive in the new media landscape. But reflexively forecasting doom assumes television networks are the only entities that will bid on sports rights in the future*. That is almost certainly not going to be the case. “I really see a time when there are going to be a lot of players in the marketplace and there are going to be a lot of distribution methods,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. “The unknown is how much is it all worth? I don’t think there’s anyone who legitimately knows what it’s going to be worth.”

*Don’t get hung up on the television-versus-Internet delivery issue. No, streaming isn’t as reliable on May 8, 2017, as cable or satellite service. Buffering remains a problem. But by May 8, 2023, the differences could be negligible.

Bowlsby is correct. No one knows. Not him. Not Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. Not SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. Not Apple CEO—and Auburn grad—Tim Cook. The only thing we do know is that there is a limited number of major college football and basketball games available for sale and there is a built-in demand for them. How much that demand is worth depends on how many companies wind up bidding. “I don’t think anyone knows exactly what the landscape will look like or what health ESPN or Fox will have in 2023 when we’re negotiating or how significant a player a Twitter or a Facebook will be,” Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said. “My sense is that there will be more competition. There will be more and different types of players. And there will still be very limited and highly valuable sports properties.”

Power 5 counting on Silicon Valley to keep them rich
 

whaler11

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Mike Aresco makes no bones about the fact that the American is not trying to be the B1G or the SEC. He explained that the American had to be different and play on Thursday and Friday nights to gain notoriety. He used an airline analogy that compared the AAC with Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines and the P5 to American, United and Delta. They were upstart innovators and are now household names in the airline industry.

Aresco further states in the interview that he doesn't expect P5 money but believes the American has a proven track record and must continue to improve. They talked about how the American is closer to a P5 than a G5.

We should all be encouraged that a former high ranking Sports TV executive is leading the charge in promoting the P6 argument. With the impressive football wins over P5 competition, national championships in Men's and Women's basketball and the additions of Navy and Wichita State, they have a pretty good product for Aresco to sell. According to Aresco he will be selling it to multiple networks including "new media" like Amazon

Although making predictions are fun, I frankly have no idea what the final dollar amount will be. However with the AAC TV football contract coming up after the 2019 season and basketball in 2020, I wouldn't bet against Aresco negotiating a good deal. The P6 label together with competing new media outlets, Amazon, Yahoo, Facebook, etc should create some interesting negotiations.

Consider what Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, had to say about new media:

The reality is more complicated and less certain. Like newspapers before them, ESPN and Fox will grapple with disruption to their business model and ultimately may have to remake themselves if they want to continue to thrive in the new media landscape. But reflexively forecasting doom assumes television networks are the only entities that will bid on sports rights in the future*. That is almost certainly not going to be the case. “I really see a time when there are going to be a lot of players in the marketplace and there are going to be a lot of distribution methods,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. “The unknown is how much is it all worth? I don’t think there’s anyone who legitimately knows what it’s going to be worth.”

*Don’t get hung up on the television-versus-Internet delivery issue. No, streaming isn’t as reliable on May 8, 2017, as cable or satellite service. Buffering remains a problem. But by May 8, 2023, the differences could be negligible.

Bowlsby is correct. No one knows. Not him. Not Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. Not SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. Not Apple CEO—and Auburn grad—Tim Cook. The only thing we do know is that there is a limited number of major college football and basketball games available for sale and there is a built-in demand for them. How much that demand is worth depends on how many companies wind up bidding. “I don’t think anyone knows exactly what the landscape will look like or what health ESPN or Fox will have in 2023 when we’re negotiating or how significant a player a Twitter or a Facebook will be,” Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said. “My sense is that there will be more competition. There will be more and different types of players. And there will still be very limited and highly valuable sports properties.”

Power 5 counting on Silicon Valley to keep them rich

So 1,000 words and no answer to a simple question.

I didn't ask for your prediction, I asked how you would define 'much better'.
 
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You asked for a number and then asked me to define much better. I understand what you are doing. This has been your style over the years. Whenever anyone has anything positive to say you play contrarian to start an argument and get emotions wild and the Husky Medic chimes in to increase the hit ratio on the boneyard. That drives up ad revenue on the Yard. You guys are the new media! You should help Aresco with the new TV deal! Medic with 28,806 and you at #2 with 24,365 tells me two things.
1. You both have a lot of free time or 2. This is a part time job! LOL
 
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You asked for a number and then asked me to define much better. I understand what you are doing. This has been your style over the years. Whenever anyone has anything positive to say you play contrarian to start an argument and get emotions wild and the Husky Medic chimes in to increase the hit ratio on the boneyard. That drives up ad revenue on the Yard. You guys are the new media! You should help Aresco with the new TV deal! Medic with 28,806 and you at #2 with 24,365 tells me two things.
1. You both have a lot of free time or 2. This is a part time job! LOL

Ha, nice theory (and I wish I got a cut). I don't necessarily disagree w/ what you originally said about Aresco but you go on a missive and still didn't give a number. (that's what made me laugh and acknowledge Whaler for pointing that out). These are not the best of times for media contract renewals.

People throw numbers around here all the times that have no basis in reality of the times.
 
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Ha, nice theory (and I wish I got a cut). I don't necessarily disagree w/ what you originally said about Aresco but you go on a missive and still didn't give a number. (that's what made me laugh and acknowledge Whaler for pointing that out). These are not the best of times for media contract renewals.

People throw numbers around here all the times that have no basis in reality of the times.

How the hell does anyone know what the number will be. All I know is Aresco is setting the table and doing all the right things with his exstensive TV experience and connections to effect the best possible outcome. If you or anybody knows of a better executive to lead the next round of TV contract negotiations then I would like to know who that person is. Seems to me like we are in good hands with Mike Aresco.
 
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He's not going to be able to get us a contract anywhere close to what the other P6 conferences are getting. (See what I did there?) Nobody would be able to. Literally nobody.

But having said that, there is no doubt in my mind that he is the person most capable of making lemons or of lemonade. People moan about the supposed exposure that he got for us in the last negotiating cycle, which was a rigged cycle due to the previous Big East contract favoring an ESPN final decision. But he actually DID get us great exposure. UConn sports teams are on tv all the time, and on channels that are not getting a 0.0001 rating. It has kept us in the national conversation, and for that, I thank him. I don't know what else people want him to do, or why they are so quick to criticise him when he's clearly fighting the good fight...

Yes! Love ❤️ it! You already have us part of the P6! THE AMERICAN IS A POWER CONFERENCE!
 
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Is this like when Bob Diaco was the passionate promoter of UConn football.

Can you please give us a number you expect for the next contract. What's 'much better'?

You do know that $3m is better than $1.8m?

In the next phase of rights contracts ... the AAC will be seen as solid content at a far lower price. If your P5 is at $20m to $40m per school by 2020, I expect the AAC MAY approach 5 times what they are currently getting. The tis better???
 
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The AAC media deal is a bargain at current rates. Could the AAC get a better deal from the traditional cable nets? Hard to say as the cable net business models are under attack. My guess is that ESPN will pay more money for the AAC media rights, but they will keep the contract length short due to the evolving environment. Hopefully, UConn can get back the Tier 3 rights to further increase annual rights fees.

Clearly, the wild card in sports right fees are the streaming services like Amazon, YouTube, Netflix, Apple TV... Think about this. YouTube was founded 12 years ago and Netflix and Amazon started streaming about 10 years ago. Twitter streamed 10 Thursday night NFL football games in 2016 and paid the NFL $10 million. Amazon is taking over in 2017 and paying $50 million for 10 Thursday night NFL games, a 5 fold increase in one year! And Amazon Prime memberships are approaching 70 million and still growing. Netflix has ~50 million US subs and still growing. ESPN has ~87 million subs and they are declining.

Anyone who thinks they know what the sports media rights landscape will look like in 10 years is kidding themselves. Heck, if you had the vision to see where video streaming was going, you could have bought Netflix for $3.15 on May 11, 2007 and made 50x on your investment as the stock is now $159.

Two final thoughts. The new entrants are huge companies, not undercapitalized upstarts, and some are already spending big on content. Here is what the major companies are spending on content in 2017 and the market cap of their parent companies:

ESPN: $7.3 billion ($173 billion)
Netflix: $6 billion ($68 billion)
NBC: $4.3 billion ($186 billion)
CBS: $4.0 billion ($26 billion)
Amazon: $3.2 billion ($450 billion)

Plus these two new entrants:

YouTube ($650 billion)
Apple TV ($802 billion)
 
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One question that was not asked of Aresco that I would have asked is"When and where is the AAC headquarters moving?"
 

Fishy

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I don't care where the AAC staff members work. If it's Providence or New York or Peru, it doesn't matter. (If someone says "perception", they're gonna get kicked in the throat.)

Aresco is doing his job. Market forces are against any conference getting more money the next time around, but I have no issues with the way he tries to promote this conference.
 

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You mean using the back room at some Clam Box as your HQ might scream Power 6? Nahh.

If he does move it to Texas some day, it better be in a BBQ shack.

Clam-Box-urban.jpg
 
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I don't care where the AAC staff members work. If it's Providence or New York or Peru, it doesn't matter. (If someone says "perception", they're gonna get kicked in the throat.)

Aresco is doing his job. Market forces are against any conference getting more money the next time around, but I have no issues with the way he tries to promote this conference.
Providence??? Bad mojo. They'll be renting office space from the Dave Gavitt foundation.
 

CL82

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You do know that $3m is better than $1.8m?

In the next phase of rights contracts ... the AAC will be seen as solid content at a far lower price. If your P5 is at $20m to $40m per school by 2020, I expect the AAC MAY approach 5 times what they are currently getting. The tis better???
Or is it when you consider in order for the league to get that number per school UConn has to give up it's tier 3 rights which are worth twice that?
 
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Providence??? Bad mojo. They'll be renting office space from the Dave Gavitt foundation.

They are currently in the old Big East offices in Providence. Walking distance to Dave Gavitt Way.
 
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Heck, if you had the vision to see where video streaming was going, you could have bought Netflix for $3.15 on May 11, 2007 and made 50x on your investment as the stock is now $159.

You could have bought Amazon for $6 bucks a share in 2001, and that's not split adjusted. It's $961 last I checked.
 

whaler11

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You asked for a number and then asked me to define much better. I understand what you are doing. This has been your style over the years. Whenever anyone has anything positive to say you play contrarian to start an argument and get emotions wild and the Husky Medic chimes in to increase the hit ratio on the boneyard. That drives up ad revenue on the Yard. You guys are the new media! You should help Aresco with the new TV deal! Medic with 28,806 and you at #2 with 24,365 tells me two things.
1. You both have a lot of free time or 2. This is a part time job! LOL

In the past you have touted complete losers and this time wanted you to provide a baseline for the definition of success.

Of course we don't get that we just get more hot air. Just like to remind you that your confidence is misguided and your credibility is nil. Thanks for the affirmation.
 
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In the past you have touted complete losers and this time wanted you to provide a baseline for the definition of success.

Of course we don't get that we just get more hot air. Just like to remind you that your confidence is misguided and your credibility is nil. Thanks for the affirmation.

Sometimes you pick the wrong horse but I have been consistent from day one on the potential of the AAC.

Have a nice weekend brother. All the best to you and yours!
 
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Next round of negotiations Tier 3 has to be on the table for teams to negotiate with other programming. UConn Women and Men's B Ball and Football could make 4-5 million more if negotiate with SNY.

Agree with the need for tier 3 but who would be the competitor to SNY in that negotiation? Makes it a bit tougher if there's only 1 bidder.
 
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Providence??? Bad mojo. They'll be renting office space from the Dave Gavitt foundation.
I think 5 years into this thing now that it's time to move the AAC HQ into Connecticut somewhere. Hartford, Stamford, Bristol(stare em right in the eyes every time ESPN drives up to work). The AAC has an excellent commish, super locations, schools that are committed to being P-5 level and an ever improving product on the field. UConn couldn't have picked a better league to bide their time in while building the football program. This easily could have gone down hill had there been a lesser commish.
 

Drew

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People love to find things to complain about so they go off on the AAC HQ being in Providence as if somehow that matters one iota in regards to national relevance. The clambake at football media days is one of the coolest media days events every year and gets national pub every time.

It's okay to not be happy that UConn is in the American and also acknowledge that Aresco is doing probably about as good of a job as anyone could do as commissioner from a marketing and exposure standpoint. Anyone bashing him for the last tv contract payout clearly hasn't educated themselves on the topic throughly and needs to go back and read up on the position the American negotiated from.
 

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