(02-11-2019 03:49 PM)adcorbett Wrote:  

(02-08-2019 05:11 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  The AAC could sign a deal like the SEC has with CBS, whereby the network would get their choice of one AAC game each week. So the AAC wouldn't have to make up a schedule in advance that involves guessing about who is going to be good or not.

The problem with that is the value of the top game doesn't change, whether it is a stand alone package, or part of a comprehensive package. However the value of the secondary games, when not tied to the top game, ie very devalued by a split package.

So why does the SEC have such a deal with CBS?

It was not ESPN who exercised that option: it was the American. ESPN did use their contractional right to match the offer, but it was the Amercian who chose to use that right to rescind their signed contract with NBC and instead resign with ESPN. Big difference. It was the choice of the American to take that offer, not ESPN's choice. They were not restricted free agents.

How could the AAC have the legal ability to disregard a signed contract with NBC? It would seem that it would have had to have been ESPN that had the right to match, with their match legally superseding the NBC agreement. The AAC wouldn't have a "right" to rescind a contract with NBC based on something a third party, ESPN did.