Rumor- UCONN Pursuing ACC Membership?

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Honestly, I've been thinking the only real solution to the ACC's problems for the next few years is expansion, with the incremental amounts being shared unequally among the new member, FSU and Clemson. Seems a tough sell for the balance of the league, but it at least preserves what they have.

Yup - that's my thinking too ^

 

[uconntailgater]

I'm tired of this sheet so I am making the decisions. ACC members will all make like Fleetwood Mac and go their own way and dissolve the conference. A very solid football conference and it's not like anyone else is winning a championship anyway. And hoops, forgetaboutit!

The result: 20 member $$ conference with 10 basketball and 10 all in. maybe add in Army and Navy for football only. who's with me.

1	PC	UCONN
2	SJU	Cuse
3	SHU	BCU
4	Nova	Pitt
5	Georgetown	VaTech
6	DePaul	NC State
7	Marquette	Duke
8	Butler	Wake
9	Xavier	GaTech
10	Creighton	Louisville

I would remove Creighton from this list as they are the outlier. Invite Temple and have Villanova upgrade their football program and this would be a nice little conference.

 

[Luna]

I would remove Creighton from this list as they are the outlier. Invite Temple and have Villanova upgrade their football program and this would be a nice little conference.

Creighton does well with tv ratings…probably 3rd best behind Uconn and Villanova… i think they also lead the big east in attendance

 

[Kolumbo]

I would remove Creighton from this list as they are the outlier. Invite Temple and have Villanova upgrade their football program and this would be a nice little conference.

I had Temple but replaced it with Georgia Tech. Temple would have to be all in but that won't happen with Nova and you can't really kick anyone out.

I think in theory this is a great plan. We don't want to leave the Big East because it's fun basketball. Half the ACC is gonna be relegated in one fashion or another. No one will compete with the P2 in football and a football conference should only be about 10-12 programs anyway. This way the ACC programs have an east coast football conference and a better basketball conference. Everyone wins.

 

[Stinger92860]

I had Temple but replaced it with Georgia Tech. Temple would have to be all in but that won't happen with Nova and you can't really kick anyone out.

I think in theory this is a great plan. We don't want to leave the Big East because it's fun basketball. Half the ACC is gonna be relegated in one fashion or another. No one will compete with the P2 in football and a football conference should only be about 10-12 programs anyway. This way the ACC programs have an east coast football conference and a better basketball conference. Everyone wins.

It would be great if we could land in the P#3. I believe it’s between the ACC and B12. I would join either in a heartbeat. With Mora, more $, and being in one of these leagues we can get football over the hump. The occasional 8-9 win season with mostly 7-5 would be huge, and we have a knack of knocking it out in every sport, so it would be interesting.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Brand new this morning.

Inside the big-money battle that could decide the ACC's future

With ACC powers Florida State and Clemson making more noise about a revenue gap with the SEC and Big Ten, realignment rumors are running rampant despite a long-term TV deal.

www.espn.com

 

[UConn Dan]

Brand new this morning.

Inside the big-money battle that could decide the ACC's future

With ACC powers Florida State and Clemson making more noise about a revenue gap with the SEC and Big Ten, realignment rumors are running rampant despite a long-term TV deal.

www.espn.com

From the article:

Over the past two years, a number of schools have sent teams of lawyers to examine the official grant of rights document, either looking for a potential pathway out or assurances that the biggest brands can't leave without a serious fight.

As one administrator told ESPN, those reviews have established several potentially compelling arguments for breaking the agreement but have uncovered no obvious loophole that would provide a pathway out without engaging in protracted litigation.

"Is it worth the paper it's written on?" one AD said. "If one school starts to leave, then another, how strong is it? It would involve a major legal battle."

And as one athletic director pointed out, it would also require another conference to extend an invitation to join before knowing whether it would have rights to broadcast that team's games. It's a legal Catch-22.

 

[uconndogs]

Brand new this morning.

Inside the big-money battle that could decide the ACC's future

With ACC powers Florida State and Clemson making more noise about a revenue gap with the SEC and Big Ten, realignment rumors are running rampant despite a long-term TV deal.

www.espn.com

After reading that I am even more convinced that the whole thing is going to ~40 elite programs with revenues well above what is currently in play. Everyone else is drawing from a smaller pot. UCONN, Syracuse and BC will be back together in a conference. I don't think it will take the whole 13 years until the GOR expires. Once that gets closer folks will start cutting deals.

What a mess.......

 

[HuskyHawk]

From the article:

Over the past two years, a number of schools have sent teams of lawyers to examine the official grant of rights document, either looking for a potential pathway out or assurances that the biggest brands can't leave without a serious fight.

As one administrator told ESPN, those reviews have established several potentially compelling arguments for breaking the agreement but have uncovered no obvious loophole that would provide a pathway out without engaging in protracted litigation.

"Is it worth the paper it's written on?" one AD said. "If one school starts to leave, then another, how strong is it? It would involve a major legal battle."

And as one athletic director pointed out, it would also require another conference to extend an invitation to join before knowing whether it would have rights to broadcast that team's games. It's a legal Catch-22.

This is the point I made yesterday, and I think @businesslawyer was commenting along the same lines. Not only is it an unknown, but the risk isn't borne by the school or conference but by the broadcast partner. Is it a risk they want to take? I doubt it. We saw that with OU and UT, they had to buy their last year of rights back.

Now, if ESPN has the rights in both cases, can it work? Sure, but would ESPN want to pay more for rights it already has? This is the challenge really.

 

[jostar1]

Brand new this morning.

Inside the big-money battle that could decide the ACC's future

With ACC powers Florida State and Clemson making more noise about a revenue gap with the SEC and Big Ten, realignment rumors are running rampant despite a long-term TV deal.

www.espn.com

From that article:

The revenue distribution changes could open the door to expansion, too -- allowing the ACC to potentially pay newer members a smaller share of the total -- but those talks have largely fallen flat, according to multiple sources. While the league has run numbers on what several potential expansion options might add to the pie, none looked like a financial bonanza, and several ADs were reluctant to see the league grow amidst so much turmoil both inside and outside the ACC.

"We continually evaluate all options that can further strengthen our conference, including adding new members," Phillips said. "We've always looked at opportunities to expand when it's made sense."

 

[CL82]

This is the money paragraph:

"At the end of the day, we need to try. And if, if we can't get things done, then, at least we can look around and say, 'All right, we attempted to get something done, we weren't able to do it,'" Radakovich said. "And then, if down the road, schools do choose to leave, it should not be a surprise."

Essentially, the other schools are going to get a chance to subsidize the heavy hitters in the hopes that that might placate them. The problem is that the ACC isn’t flush with cash so there really isn’t enough cushion to reallocate the existing distributions. The commissioner is going through the motions and giving people the option to choose to do that if they want, but he recognizes that’s unlikely and what the consequence of that will be as 2036 approaches .

 

[uconntailgater]

I would remove Creighton from this list as they are the outlier. Invite Temple and have Villanova upgrade their football program and this would be a nice little conference.

I know Villanova wouldn't be happy with Temple being added. I would also add USF to keep a Florida pipeline open.

 

[Kolumbo]

It seems to me and I am probably wrong because I don't get any of it, but if the B1G and SEC are really able to pay as much as they say, then the ACC should be able to pay more. That is the gripe. Not uneven revenue, but more revenue for all. So the members should demand more from the ACC. If the ACC refuses to be competitive with the other conferences, the members vote to dissolve. They then regroup to form a new Atlantic Coast based conference and they should be able to get more cash. Problem solved. Right?

 

[Fishy]

I am in the camp that thinks nothing is happening at this moment, at least in terms of UConn.

I am certain that the PAC is talking to some G5 schools and I am certain that the Big 12 is talking to some PAC schools. If the PAC gets $30M and linear television for their rights, everything quiets right down again. If they get $20M and you have to have Apple+ to watch them, there will be mayhem this summer.

 

[Fishy]

It seems to me and I am probably wrong because I don't get any of it, but if the B1G and SEC are really able to pay as much as they say, then the ACC should be able to pay more. That is the gripe. Not uneven revenue, but more revenue for all. So the members should demand more from the ACC. If the ACC refuses to be competitive with the other conferences, the members vote to dissolve. They then regroup to form a new Atlantic Coast based conference and they should be able to get more cash. Problem solved. Right?

Your first sentence nailed it.

The ACC can only offer members what it can offer - they have a TV deal that binds everyone hard to the conference and the deal is not up for review or renewal for 13 years.

First, even if they magically could dissolve and reform to renegotiate their contract, (they can’t), half the conference would instantly look to jump to the Big Ten or the SEC. If any of them were successful, the remaining members would be in the same boat as the PAC12.

 

[uconndogs]

I am in the camp that thinks nothing is happening at this moment, at least in terms of UConn.

I am certain that the PAC is talking to some G5 schools and I am certain that the Big 12 is talking to some PAC schools. If the PAC gets $30M and linear television for their rights, everything quiets right down again. If they get $20M and you have to have Apple+ to watch them, there will be mayhem this summer.

I don't think the BiG is done with the PAC. I think they grab UCal and UWash in the next 2-3 years. The more I think about it the more convinced I am that the BiG didn't want to be the villain that obliterated the PAC in one fell swoop. This way the PAC can backfill in an orderly way, assuming the BigXII doesn't finish them off first.

 

[noeynox]

I don't think the BiG is done with the PAC. I think they grab UCal and UWash in the next 2-3 years. The more I think about it the more convinced I am that the BiG didn't want to be the villain that obliterated the PAC in one fell swoop. This way the PAC can backfill in an orderly way, assuming the BigXII doesn't finish them off first.

I think it will be Stanford instead of Cal, otherwise agree with the overall premise.

 

[Ldandy]

I'm tired of this sheet so I am making the decisions. ACC members will all make like Fleetwood Mac and go their own way and dissolve the conference. A very solid football conference and it's not like anyone else is winning a championship anyway. And hoops, forgetaboutit!

The result: 20 member $$ conference with 10 basketball and 10 all in. maybe add in Army and Navy for football only. who's with me.

1	PC	UCONN
2	SJU	Cuse
3	SHU	BCU
4	Nova	Pitt
5	Georgetown	VaTech
6	DePaul	NC State
7	Marquette	Duke
8	Butler	Wake
9	Xavier	GaTech
10	Creighton	Louisville

Interesting. A hybrid conference with a group of mostly private Catholic Basketball Schools and East Coast Football Schools including Cuse, BCU, Pitt VPI, and UConn working together. Where have I seen this before?

 

[uconndogs]

I think it will be Stanford instead of Cal, otherwise agree with the overall premise.

Certainly could be. Might grab Oregon to complete the PNW and grab that Nike money.

 

[jostar1]

Interview with former ESPN President John Skipper who negotiated the ACC media contract. He says that the ACC should merge with the PAC (take eight schools) because it would add 15 million subscribers to the ACC Network and they could probably force a renegotiation of the media contract. Starts at around 35:00:

 

[Kolumbo]

Interesting. A hybrid conference with a group of mostly private Catholic Basketball Schools and East Coast Football Schools including Cuse, BCU, Pitt VPI, and UConn working together. Where have I seen this before?

Exactly. And it was working fine until everyone started chasing fools gold. Live and learn. Miami won 11, 12, 12, 11 games its last 4 years in the Big East. It has won 10 games just once in the 19 years since. That's a shame.

The article posted at a FSU fan site has tons of comments. Message boards all over the place all have the same questions, comments and concerns, but no answers.

"Something has to change:" FSU AD Michael Alford talks ACC financial outlook

Florida State is at risk of falling behind financially in the world of college athletics

www.tomahawknation.com

 

[huskymedic]

“On the surface, FSU has no leverage. Below the surface, FSU has no leverage. You don't just tear up and redo a 10-figure contract with 13 years remaining until its expiry.”

 

[CL82]

Certainly could be. Might grab Oregon to complete the PNW and grab that Nike money.

It’s not like Phil Knight is going to be writing checks to the conference

 

[Gburyhusky]

For quite some time I have been a proponent of seeking ACC membership. However, the more I read about their situation, including articles like these, it gives me serious doubt that the ACC is a better situation for UConn athletics. This FSU/Clemson/Miami football cabal is just not a good fit for us culturally. Maybe they will get things sorted out and figure out a way to keep the conference together, but I doubt it. These FSU people sound like greedy egomaniacs.

 

[uconndogs]

It’s not like Phil Knight is going to be writing checks to the conference

Gee….thanks for clearing that up.