(10-16-2026 04:30 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  App and Marshall aren't getting into a league with Memphis and South Florida. There's just zero chance

Why Not? Not long ago we were!

(10-16-2026 04:47 PM)Johns1124 Wrote:  

(10-16-2026 04:30 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  App and Marshall aren't getting into a league with Memphis and South Florida. There's just zero chance

Why Not? Not long ago we were!

I must have missed that league with App and Memphis.

Marshall...sure. But then they left you on the altar like a gilded bride, and when they finally had to add other schools to join them, they picked everyone but you. Memphis won't be a league with you again without going kicking and screaming.

27 months is too long, way too long and totally unreasonable. Things happen fast and often with very little notice in today's whacky conference jumping around.

(10-16-2026 04:46 PM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  Watch all of this come full circle.

The ACC will lose a bunch of schools. The ACC will then absorb the best among the American and Pac-12 to try and stay as a "Power 4." The American will then have to deal with the "conference composition clause" within their ESPN deal, meaning the TV money will decline.

Then schools like ECU, Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Temple, Tulsa, UAB, and possibly JMU will be looking for the next best conference before the ship sinks further, ala the Pac-12 remnants inviting the rest of the MWC and the western American schools.

It'll be CUSA all over again.

Good. We should just keep playing. Football is a diversion from real life. People making it the end all is caused all this nonsense. Just play.

(10-16-2026 04:51 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  Marshall...sure. But then they left you on the altar like a gilded bride, and when they finally had to add other schools to join them, they picked everyone but you. Memphis won't be a league with you again without going kicking and screaming.

Yes, there is a reason for that: location and mass media. Americans are infatuated with it, especially with Aresco as Commissioner. If you want any proof of that, look at who they took. No. Texas, FAU, and Charlotte, for god sake. Can't get much more quality than that.

(10-16-2026 04:52 PM)Tech80 Wrote:  27 months is too long, way too long and totally unreasonable. Things happen fast and often with very little notice in today's whacky conference jumping around.

That's kind of the idea. The League you jump to join today probably looks very different in 27 months. So make sure teams are committed before you move.

The reality is this is likely partially due to our upcoming TV lookin. Balances what future disbursements ents may be.

Where is there any evidence of a look in or renegotiation period mentioned? It is not in any public records I can find and has never been mentioned in SBC materials and I was told a few years ago by the Troy AD there was no such clause in our current media contract. ESPN could start one but this is not a given.

(10-16-2026 04:30 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-16-2026 04:21 PM)Georgia_Power_Company Wrote:  

(10-16-2026 03:26 PM)JTApps1 Wrote:  That 27 month number looks nice n paper, but when is the last time anyone waited that long to leave a conference? We'll see negotiated exit fees going forward and I seriously doubt anyone will pay less than $10M. Keep in mind that's 5 years or more of current conference distributions to leave, and I'm pretty sure the TV contract is locked in for several more years. I like the SBC overall, but the penalty to leave is now unreasonable.

Pretty sure the SBC has a look in next year. My thought is that the $8 mil figure with 2 years notice will be about what we expect to make in the next contract. It's just a hunch but $4 mil per year will be double what we are getting now.

Pretty much.

Its also partially designed to remind everyone that realignment often changes things radically. App and Marshall aren't getting into a league with Memphis and South Florida. There's just zero chance. They can get into a league without them. The exit fee wait period is simply hey, we've got a TV look in coming up. Lets look at that. The AAC may implode sooner, lets see that play out.

This is designed to ward off a PAC 12 East push. That's a lot of money to play Volleyball games in Boise

So are you basically confirming the rumors of a potential PAC East?

It would make sense. Eventually, the American and the PAC are going to be battling to establish themselves as the No. 1 G6 conference and put themselves in the best position for the playoff.

It seems like everyone believes Memphis and USF are eventually gone, which would be a major blow to the American. If the PAC-12 could have jumped in earlier and grabbed the right eastern schools before the American made its moves, they could have positioned themselves to be the clear top dog among the G6.

However, the American adding JMU, and potentially UConn, may have thrown a pretty big wrench into those plans.

To me 8M is a good number for Marshall and APP to show their allegiance to the conference, but would not stop them from leaving for the right opportunity. In fact, that would be the case for most of us.

To avoid legal challenge, the fee needs to be reasonable. Charging up to 13 times the entire value of annual league distribution is not reasonable. That would be like the SEC charging $400 million.

So if I’m App, for example, and I voted against this new fee structure, I would argue that it is overly punitive if they try to impose it. If nothing else, this shows why the founding fathers didn’t want a democracy. As the old saying goes, democracy is 3 wolves and two sheep voting on what’s for dinner.

(10-16-2026 04:46 PM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  Watch all of this come full circle.

The ACC will lose a bunch of schools. The ACC will then absorb the best among the American and Pac-12 to try and stay as a "Power 4." The American will then have to deal with the "conference composition clause" within their ESPN deal, meaning the TV money will decline.

Then schools like ECU, Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Temple, Tulsa, UAB, and possibly JMU will be looking for the next best conference before the ship sinks further, ala the Pac-12 remnants inviting the rest of the MWC and the western American schools.

It'll be CUSA all over again.

It’s CUSA now! It’s both versions of CUSA that SoMiss and Marshall we a part of.

Curious was this unanimously accepted?

Wow. The Sun Belt is scared and the bottom feeders have put handcuffs on the better programs that have aspirations to do better.

It was a very savvy move by JMU to get out before a desperate league implemented exit penalties. See ya maintainers. I hope you enjoy your mediocre existence.

(10-16-2026 09:04 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  Wow. The Sun Belt is scared and the bottom feeders have put handcuffs on the better programs that have aspirations to do better.

It was a very savvy move by JMU to get out before a desperate league implemented exit penalties. See ya maintainers. I hope you enjoy your mediocre existence.

Is it really desperate to get your exit fee closer to CUSA's? I heard they have a $10M one. Speaking of, isn't AAC higher than both? Seems they're the scared ones...

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(10-16-2026 09:04 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  Wow. The Sun Belt is scared and the bottom feeders have put handcuffs on the better programs that have aspirations to do better.

It was a very savvy move by JMU to get out before a desperate league implemented exit penalties. See ya maintainers. I hope you enjoy your mediocre existence.

You don’t suppose there would be a hefty fee included in the new contract you just signed. What a sideways move!

(10-16-2026 09:04 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  Wow. The Sun Belt is scared and the bottom feeders have put handcuffs on the better programs that have aspirations to do better.

It was a very savvy move by JMU to get out before a desperate league implemented exit penalties. See ya maintainers. I hope you enjoy your mediocre existence.

You know the AAC exit fee is higher, right?

(10-16-2026 09:04 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  Wow. The Sun Belt is scared and the bottom feeders have put handcuffs on the better programs that have aspirations to do better.

It was a very savvy move by JMU to get out before a desperate league implemented exit penalties. See ya maintainers. I hope you enjoy your mediocre existence.

JMU has a great football program and I have no doubt that you will be successful in the AAC. You will make the AAC a better conference, but guess who'll benefit from that? You guessed it... Memphis, USF, Tulane and possibly Navy. You will elevate them and they will benefit and get to be the chosen ones. Then you'll get "CUSA'd" just like Marshall and SoMiss were "CUSA'd". Then you'll be stuck with the same schools that we got stuck with. That's weird how that turns out isn't it?

This sounds entirely reasonable to me. The lowest payment of $8M is for 27 months notice. The damage done to the conference when a team leaves is about TIME. If a new school (presumably of lower financial means) requires 2 years to leave their former conference, this gives three months for a search, offer, acceptance, and to line up all the paperwork. A reasonable amount of time.

If a team wants to leave earlier, it hurts the Sun Belt more. The new team may need financial help getting out of their original contract early to make up for someone else’s early exit. The original “early exiter” should have some financial responsibility for making the SBC whole in helping onboard a new team. It sure costs a lot more than $8M to leave CUSA in less than 2 years these days. Just ask LA Tech folks.

As usual Hart is an idiot. Bye dum dum.

(10-16-2026 10:43 PM)Eagle Talon Wrote:  This sounds entirely reasonable to me. The lowest payment of $8M is for 27 months notice. The damage done to the conference when a team leaves is about TIME. If a new school (presumably of lower financial means) requires 2 years to leave their former conference, this gives three months for a search, offer, acceptance, and to line up all the paperwork. A reasonable amount of time.

If a team wants to leave earlier, it hurts the Sun Belt more. The new team may need financial help getting out of their original contract early to make up for someone else’s early exit. The original “early exiter” should have some financial responsibility for making the SBC whole in helping onboard a new team. It sure costs a lot more than $8M to leave CUSA in less than 2 years these days. Just ask LA Tech folks.

How much did Tech end up paying?

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(10-16-2026 11:04 PM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-16-2026 10:43 PM)Eagle Talon Wrote:  This sounds entirely reasonable to me. The lowest payment of $8M is for 27 months notice. The damage done to the conference when a team leaves is about TIME. If a new school (presumably of lower financial means) requires 2 years to leave their former conference, this gives three months for a search, offer, acceptance, and to line up all the paperwork. A reasonable amount of time.

If a team wants to leave earlier, it hurts the Sun Belt more. The new team may need financial help getting out of their original contract early to make up for someone else’s early exit. The original “early exiter” should have some financial responsibility for making the SBC whole in helping onboard a new team. It sure costs a lot more than $8M to leave CUSA in less than 2 years these days. Just ask LA Tech folks.

How much did Tech end up paying?

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I understand Tech paid $8M to CUSA as exit fees alone... I’m sure more in legal fees, joining fees, new turf and signage, etc. I imagine finding replacements only gets more expensive from here. The cap at 18M lets anyone who seriously needs to leave at the end of this season a fair buy out. I mean, JMU just paid $23M in JOINING fees.