I've said it like a half dozen times, but I'll say it again: Follow the Money.

The AAC has a TV deal that's like $7.5 million AAV to Temple as part of the American. It might go down if ESPN has clauses in it.
The AAC basketball-only share and the A-10 media share are about the same: $1.25 to $1.5 million per school range. I think the A-10 is slightly less, but they have five separate deals, while the AAC has one deal.

But the CAA TV deal for football is what? Like, cost of production? So re-joining the A-10 means Temple loses up to $6 million.

Temple COULD make some of that back by going from FBS to FCS (Saving 22 scholarships, which would be like, $500,000 a year) and the A-10 NCAA payout is more lucrative if you earn the units yourself.

But the difference in AAC NCAA unit payout vs A-10, IF TEMPLE performed the way they did for their last 20 years in the A-10 on average... They'd be earning 1.72 more NCAA units worth per year in the A-10 structure.

Which is about $700,000 more. So they're losing $4.75 million vs staying the American.

It's likely the AAC payment goes down, but it's also likely they can't regain the performance they had in the A-10 because the world has changed and they don't have a Hall of Fame coach like John Chaney anymore. And that's probably a wash.


Then factor in the whole reason your FBS in the first place is the exposure you get from being FBS and they're in the #6 FBS conference right now.

Being in the best conference possible is always the goal, even if you suck in that conference. Just ask Northwestern and Vanderbilt, and how long as the A-10 fans been trying to get rid of Fordham and LaSalle?


Temple ain't going back.