Attackcoog
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RE: Everybody's working for 2022
(09-14-2021 01:04 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote: (09-14-2021 12:51 PM)Attackcoog Wrote: (09-14-2021 10:05 AM)Bogg Wrote: (09-14-2021 08:08 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote: The UCONN price wasn’t that high because no moves needed to be made in response and no value was lost by having them leave. If those 3 left for 22 the AAC would have to add schools for 22 and there would be a massive negative financial impact. I don’t know what the number would be, don’t think 30, but I’d be stunned if it was not higher than UCONNs total.
UConn also agreed to four home-and-homes with the AAC in basketball as part of that deal (which gets a little dicey now, actually). A straight cash settlement seems likely to be above $20 million each.
That wasnt a factor because it was a complete unknown when the exit fee was negotiated. The exit fee was decided in July of 2019. The AAC hadnt reached any agreement with ESPN on the future of their deal without UConn at that point. In fact, the AAC was still negotiating the effect on the TV deal with ESPN as late as December of 2019. W Virginia paid 20 million to exit early---but W Virginia left when the Big East was still a power conference and still had the C7, Louisville, Rutgers, and hopes of a much higher TV deal. Im guessing 17 million is going to be the price because a precedent has essentially been set with the UConn exit. I think the AAC schools will be gone by 2022.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-footba...port-says/
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/c...story.html
I'm betting it's higher. It is a precedent and I'm sure you guys will try to argue that, but UCONN wasn't a part of the schools that would trigger an automatic look in by ESPN if I remember correctly. It may not have been known for certain how the deal would be impacted by them leaving, but unless you believe Aresco is like legit stupid he had a pretty good idea of the impact before that was agreed to. No one is going to even pretend to argue the TV deal impact of losing UCONN and losing you 3 are going to be the same. Also leaving in 22 would require the AAC to figure out a way to get at least 1 new school in the league in 22 which has an additional cost that wasn't a part of UCONN's departure. I don't see it being under 20 to be out in 22. While I don't advocate for being petty, and don't think it's a good idea to try to burn bridges, there's not really any good legal footing to demand to be out in 1 year for the exact amount UCONN was. That was a settlement and every settlement is different depending on the circumstances it's not binding precedent.
I dont think its burning bridges. Lame duck seasons are good for nobody. The meetings are awkward and tense. Its too easy for leaks to happen. Not to mention---its a bad look for a conference if exiting schools win conference championships. Thats why schools almost always leave within a year of publicly announcing their intent to exit. As for the damage of 3 schools leaving---the exit fee's collected will be 3 times as high as when one schools left. At 17 million a shot---the AAC will have received 68 million in exit fees since 2019 with which to replace schools. The purpose of an exit fee is not to enrich the remaining schools---its liquidated damages designed to allow the conference to overcome any damage caused by the exit of members. The AAC will have 68 million dollars to expedite the arrival of 1 to 4 new teams if they wish to use the money to prevent any problems with 2022 membership. By the way---these 3 exiting teams will soon be voting members in the Big 12---so---I would think any concerns about burning bridges would go both ways.
UT/OU may be the exception when it comes to exiting quickly---and the reason would simply be cost. Unless some sort of innovative solution is found, the exit fees just look too high to overcome--making an early 2022 exit difficult to see. The only way I see it happening is if the Big12 is willing to move on despite the fact they make less money in doing so.
(This post was last modified: 09-14-2021 02:04 PM by Attackcoog.)
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09-14-2021 01:56 PM |
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