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UConn needs a plan

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CTMike

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He won't share a plan because @nelsonmuntz is trolymctrollface. He won't answer questions, but asks more and more of them. He won't live with being attacked, but attacks constantly.

Troll Troll troll.
He said UConn just needs to find a way to break multiple contracts and then establish new ones for more money. It's quite simple, really.
 

nelsonmuntz

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I won't even ask how your define long term as it cannot equate to anything rational.

For the near term the plan is to improve the school's profile, both academically and in athletics as well as increasing outside funding both in research grants and donations. The new tech park and emphasis on STEM will pay dividends in due time.

My question for you: Why do you think there is no plan?

We are rapidly reaching a point where the school's academic objectives and athletic objectives will diverge. We may already be there. UConn needs to make its athletic department cash flow neutral to the school, quickly. UConn is bleeding money like crazy, and the plan seems to be praying for a P5 miracle. Even if we got a P5 invitation, the new league could basically buy us for free at our current revenue level and we would still take it.

In case no one was paying attention, the Big 12 just passed up the opportunity to add $50MM a year to their top line, of which they would have to share very little with the new schools. Talk about a slap in the face. The Big 12 basically said they didn't want UConn at any price. That is the problem with letting the market price the school so cheaply...everyone starts to think that is what the schools is worth.
 

nelsonmuntz

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He won't share a plan because @nelsonmuntz is trolymctrollface. He won't answer questions, but asks more and more of them. He won't live with being attacked, but attacks constantly.

Troll Troll troll.

How many posts in this thread do I have with ideas on how we can do things differently? 10? 15? That is trolling. Got it.
 

nelsonmuntz

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He said UConn just needs to find a way to break multiple contracts and then establish new ones for more money. It's quite simple, really.

Or we can shut the football program down. Or maybe we can keep the football program going, and cut an academic major or two? Let's see how that goes. Or maybe we can fill the $15 or $20 or $25 million hole (depending on the source) with increased tuition. Take $20 million hole in the athletic budget, divided by 14,000 undergrads, that comes to $1,428 per student in increase tuition. Or maybe the football fans can cover the hole. $20 million divided by 20,000 season ticket holders equals $1,000 more per season ticket.

Which choice do you like best?
 

ConnHuskBask

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Or we can shut the football program down. Or maybe we can keep the football program going, and cut an academic major or two? Let's see how that goes. Or maybe we can fill the $15 or $20 or $25 million hole (depending on the source) with increased tuition. Take $20 million hole in the athletic budget, divided by 14,000 undergrads, that comes to $1,428 per student in increase tuition. Or maybe the football fans can cover the hole. $20 million divided by 20,000 season ticket holders equals $1,000 more per season ticket.

Which choice do you like best?

Or maybe just keeping the status quo for the next few years until we see what the new contract brings?

You act like we're the only University that has fielded a football team and not made $30M a year in TV money. We have training facilities, we have a stadium, aside from our coaching staff taking a paycut - which the University just shower it isn't going to do, were going to stay at our current expenditure for quite some time.

The only person predicting imminent doom is you.
 

nelsonmuntz

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Or maybe just keeping the status quo for the next few years until we see what the new contract brings?

You act like we're the only University that has fielded a football team and not made $30M a year in TV money. We have training facilities, we have a stadium, aside from our coaching staff taking a paycut - which the University just shower it isn't going to do, were going to stay at our current expenditure for quite some time.

The only person predicting imminent doom is you.

Ah. I forgot the "money will appear by magic" solution. Problem solved.
 
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just about no one on this site has any idea what is truly going on behind the scenes. just wait and see. every person who has predicted things so far has been wrong
 

CL82

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How many posts in this thread do I have with ideas on how we can do things differently? 10? 15? That is trolling. Got it.
34, but who's counting.
 

pepband99

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How many posts in this thread do I have with ideas on how we can do things differently? 10? 15? That is trolling. Got it.
...and all of them are either impossible (the Boise st plan) or final. The one thing you refuse to acknowledge - status quo leaves options open. If we do anything drastic now, it closes far too many doors.
 

ConnHuskBask

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Ah. I forgot the "money will appear by magic" solution. Problem solved.

That's when our contract is up for renewal with the majority of the G5 schools worth anything of value. Do you think we can survive 3 more years given everything is already on the books and accounted for?

As opposed to breaking our current AAC contract, selling our football rights grouped with Florida International, Western Michigan back to ESPN and then hoping we can join the A10 for basketball? Not to mention suggesting we try to produce our own games.
 

nelsonmuntz

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That's when our contract is up for renewal with the majority of the G5 schools worth anything of value. Do you think we can survive 3 more years given everything is already on the books and accounted for?

As opposed to breaking our current AAC contract, selling our football rights grouped with Florida International, Western Michigan back to ESPN and then hoping we can join the A10 for basketball? Not to mention suggesting we try to produce our own games.

At this point, with CUSA already re-signed, we probably have to ride out the current contract. It would be worth it to go to ESPN sooner than later and simply say if the next deal is not competitive, it will not be renewed. I suspect that all the AAC BOT's would like to get a sense of what future revenues look like as they determine how much longer than can maintain current spending levels.

I would expect that several schools start major cutbacks if the next deal is not a major increase over the current one. The problem is that all indications from ESPN are the next contract will suck, possibly worse than this one. Then what do we do?

UConn and the AAC and whoever else it makes sense to drag along needs to come up with a new revenue model, because the old one is not viable.
 

ConnHuskBask

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At this point, with CUSA already re-signed, we probably have to ride out the current contract. It would be worth it to go to ESPN sooner than later and simply say if the next deal is not competitive, it will not be renewed. I suspect that all the AAC BOT's would like to get a sense of what future revenues look like as they determine how much longer than can maintain current spending levels.

I would expect that several schools start major cutbacks if the next deal is not a major increase over the current one. The problem is that all indications from ESPN are the next contract will suck, possibly worse than this one. Then what do we do?

UConn and the AAC and whoever else it makes sense to drag along needs to come up with a new revenue model, because the old one is not viable.

And after 3 plus years and millions of posts, we're still waiting for your plan.

The only thing we've ever heard from you has been to destroy our current deal, create a loose federation for football, combining with the other G5 leagues that incredibly make less than us and then finding a home for hoops or hoping the AAC would still exist.

We think adding tulsa and Tulane sucked. Now we want to help feed UMass, Western Kentucky and New Mexico?

There's only one plan - stay the course and see how the new TV deal is shaping up.
 

junglehusky

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Or we can shut the football program down. Or maybe we can keep the football program going, and cut an academic major or two? Let's see how that goes. Or maybe we can fill the $15 or $20 or $25 million hole (depending on the source) with increased tuition. Take $20 million hole in the athletic budget, divided by 14,000 undergrads, that comes to $1,428 per student in increase tuition. Or maybe the football fans can cover the hole. $20 million divided by 20,000 season ticket holders equals $1,000 more per season ticket.

Which choice do you like best?
We're already filling the hole with student fees.
 

nelsonmuntz

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We're already filling the hole with student fees.

And those are HUGE. Basically, we are asking 19 and 20 year old kids to borrow so that UConn can fund a football program. That is not sustainable.
 

nelsonmuntz

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And after 3 plus years and millions of posts, we're still waiting for your plan.

The only thing we've ever heard from you has been to destroy our current deal, create a loose federation for football, combining with the other G5 leagues that incredibly make less than us and then finding a home for hoops or hoping the AAC would still exist.

We think adding tulsa and Tulane sucked. Now we want to help feed UMass, Western Kentucky and New Mexico?

There's only one plan - stay the course and see how the new TV deal is shaping up.

This is a weird board. There are literally thousands of posts about imminent P5 invitations, but I post the obvious, which is that the verdict is in and no P5 league wants us so we better come up with a new way to make money, and I get blasted.

I am frankly surprised that Herbst has let it go on this long, but the party will be sending soon enough. Enjoy it while it lasts. If there is no news about a new revenue model by 2018, we will have our answer about what the BoT wants to do.
 

ConnHuskBask

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This is a weird board. There are literally thousands of posts about imminent P5 invitations, but I post the obvious, which is that the verdict is in and no P5 league wants us so we better come up with a new way to make money, and I get blasted.

I am frankly surprised that Herbst has let it go on this long, but the party will be sending soon enough. Enjoy it while it lasts. If there is no news about a new revenue model by 2018, we will have our answer about what the BoT wants to do.

Think your Internet may have cut out and the above posted before the paragraphs detailing how we can generate more revenue can happen.

I'd also say most of the most very cautiously monitoring the big 12 situation. Most realized that even with a big 12 network it wasn't a sure thing.

We have to wait out the status quo for a few more years. That's the only option and quite honestly may be the best option going beyond that as well barring a P5 invite.
 

junglehusky

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There's a trope on twitter that says "If UConn was P5-worthy, they would have been invited by now".

I'll invert that and say "If UConn could generate P5 revenue by self-producing content, they'd be doing it by now".

It's obvious that neither of those are the whole story. But UConn is in the AAC by necessity, and bound by the term of the contract. Nothing nelson has posted in this thread or, one imagines, anywhere in his hundreds of posts, addresses this point. If you want to talk about the next contract, that's fine. But nelson looks at the fact that UConn "chooses" to not break the contract (which, let's face it, is basically the same thing as paying an exit fee and going independent, which is sure to crash revenue EVEN FURTHER) and reads it as if UConn's administration is fine with the revenue hole. Logic is not your friend.
 

nelsonmuntz

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There's a trope on twitter that says "If UConn was P5-worthy, they would have been invited by now".

I'll invert that and say "If UConn could generate P5 revenue by self-producing content, they'd be doing it by now".

It's obvious that neither of those are the whole story. But UConn is in the AAC by necessity, and bound by the term of the contract. Nothing nelson has posted in this thread or, one imagines, anywhere in his hundreds of posts, addresses this point. If you want to talk about the next contract, that's fine. But nelson looks at the fact that UConn "chooses" to not break the contract (which, let's face it, is basically the same thing as paying an exit fee and going independent, which is sure to crash revenue EVEN FURTHER) and reads it as if UConn's administration is fine with the revenue hole. Logic is not your friend.

I am amazed at the ferocity of the defense of mediocrity.

If UConn was going to be invited to a P5 conference, they would have been invited by now. That doesn't mean UConn isn't P5 worthy, but it just isn't working out for us. We could pray for a miracle, or start taking steps to put UConn on a more competitive footing with the P5.

With your second point, if you believe that, it is a death sentence. If you think UConn is really worth $2MM a year, then the athletic program is not viable.

As for the rest of it, despite roughly 20 posts on this topic, you don't understand what I am saying, or you are choosing not to understand. I will try bullets:

1) UConn and the AAC should have never signed this contract, but at this point, I will agree that it is probably not worth it to break it.
2) UConn should take steps now for a post-ESPN world. ESPN's next contract will probably look like this one, and it will probably not be worth signing, for UConn or most of the AAC. Time to form a network. I don't care if you do it with the golf channel or TNT or whoever, just get your own network. If ESPN wants to broadcast games, they can purchase AAC content like any other broadcaster.
3) I do think there is strength in numbers, to a point. A joint TV and scheduling alliance with the MWC, Army and BYU probably makes sense. I think that the MAC, CUSA and Sun Belt could provide some value too. The G5 may produce 20 truly national games a year (almost all of them out of the AAC and CUSA), but there is a lot of regional value in the league and a lot of broadcasters out there looking for content that do not want to pay national prices.

As I have said, virtually any plan is better than what UConn is currently doing. If you have one, I am all ears.

One thing I would add is that if there is a buyout, the AAC should look into it. With a contract this thin, I suspect the buyout could be pretty small.
 
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junglehusky

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1) UConn and the AAC should have never signed this contract, but at this point, I will agree that it is probably not worth it to break it.
OK, then. Only took how many posts to get to here?
2) UConn should take steps now for a post-ESPN world. ESPN's next contract will probably look like this one, and it will probably not be worth signing, for UConn or most of the AAC. Time to form a network.
If it's worth doing, they'll look at it. There's production and distribution to set up and associated costs. If they don't do it, it's because it isn't feasible (again, how much do you think Tulane and Tulsa will be able to share costs) - and then you'll write a series of posts saying they don't have a plan.

As I have said, virtually any plan is better than what UConn is currently doing.
It's easy. Make up a plan and assume the costs are low and the payout is high for everyone (not just UConn). No prolemo!
 

CL82

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This is a weird board. There are literally thousands of posts about imminent P5 invitations, but I post the obvious, which is that the verdict is in and no P5 league wants us so we better come up with a new way to make money, and I get blasted.
So it's the board that's weird...

 

nelsonmuntz

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OK, then. Only took how many posts to get to here?

If it's worth doing, they'll look at it. There's production and distribution to set up and associated costs. If they don't do it, it's because it isn't feasible (again, how much do you think Tulane and Tulsa will be able to share costs) - and then you'll write a series of posts saying they don't have a plan.

It's easy. Make up a plan and assume the costs are low and the payout is high for everyone (not just UConn). No prolemo!

The disconnect is that so many like you think that the status quo can be maintained. It can't, and 80% of this board refuses to acknowledge it. The answer may be that UConn needs to downgrade its entire athletic program.
 

junglehusky

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The disconnect is that so many like you think that the status quo can be maintained. It can't, and 80% of this board refuses to acknowledge it. The answer may be that UConn needs to downgrade its entire athletic program.
It can be maintained for a couple years. Possibly more. It has to be maintained until we can open up tier 3. There's no way around that. Making up fantasy plans with unicorn revenue is fun though. Will UConn downgrade? More likely reduce the budget for coaches' salaries, recruiting, facilities some percentage, hope they can win on a budget and alumni will still buy tickets. Hint: if they unilaterally downgrade the program, nobody will go to see us play A10 basketball.
 

nelsonmuntz

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It can be maintained for a couple years. Possibly more. It has to be maintained until we can open up tier 3. There's no way around that. Making up fantasy plans with unicorn revenue is fun though. Will UConn downgrade? More likely reduce the budget for coaches' salaries, recruiting, facilities some percentage, hope they can win on a budget and alumni will still buy tickets. Hint: if they unilaterally downgrade the program, nobody will go to see us play A10 basketball.

So you are agreeing that UConn needs to sell its content differently than it currently is doing, but you like to just attack me personally. Got it.

A couple of years is all we have. The next media contract has to have a path to self-sustainability, or there will be dramatic cuts in expenses. The school will have a good look into the next deal within about 24 months, so if the league wants to do something innovative, it has to start now. That leaves two choices:

1) Get control of content so that the AAC and its partners can better monetize its content regionally, or
2) Wait for ESPN to bid on the next contract. ESPN will drag it out as long as possible because ESPN will know that once the bid comes in, half the schools in the league will start slashing costs if there are no other options.
 

junglehusky

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Hey try for whatever, if someone wants to pay enough to make everybody satisfied, go for it. But how to make everyone happy conference is different than being on your own. I honestly don't know how the political calculus of telling all the other schools in the AAC we're taking back our T3 back works but I think they won't be happy about having to sell to their local TV affiliates; a lot of them are #2, #3 or #4 in their own market. Even with cable cutting etc., in 5 years those schools will still attach a value to being on ESPN.
 
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