Many questions seem to remain unanswered about the consequences of UConn's departure with respect to the AAC's broadcasting agreement with ESPN, which seems to have been the subject of intensive renegotiations.

All we seem to know for sure is that UConn will be paying $17 million in penalties for leaving the conference. Each AAC all-sports member will be paid ~$1.5 million, but those distributions won't be completed until 2026 (see below).

Until quite recently, most of us were under the impression that the departure of UConn would have no adverse impact on the structure of payments from ESPN to the AAC, because the signed contract was to remain in full force as long as no more than one AAC school departed the conference.

Beyond that, there was for a short time some chatter about the hope that ESPN's annual payments to the AAC would not decrease after UConn's departure. If that were the case, the money that would have gone to UConn for the duration of the contract would have been disseminated to the AAC schools. That hope definitely seems to have been overoptimistic.

It's hard for most of us to tell, but it's beginning to appear that ESPN has been trying to take advantage of the situation, or that the conference may be in for some bad news, given that there seem to have been intensive conversations and negotiations with ESPN in recent weeks.

Does anyone know if ESPN is using the departure of UConn to seek concessions from the AAC? That's the way it seems to appear, especially given that Commissioner Aresco seems very unwilling to disclose the terms of the revised or updated agreement.



.
UConn officially leaving AAC in 2020, paying $17 million exit fee.

"The AAC bylaws required a 27-month notice before departing, but UConn negotiated (an) early exit.

The cost — $17 million. The AAC’s exit fee is $10 million, so UConn paid an additional $7 million for the right to depart early. The cost will be spread out through the end of the 2026 fiscal year."

https://www.ctpost.com/uconn/article/UCo...178493.php

the assumption has always been ESPN will simply remove UConn's share until a 12th member is added. I think the delay is due to the waiver...ESPN now has time to court 'inventory' (12th team) from Fox/CBS (MWC) such as CSU or AF (football only) to fill in their late time spots.

a big chunk of UConn 17 million is forfeited revenue for this season which will start paying out I believe next season to the remaining members...that will greatly help offset ESPN+ production costs.

(02-16-2020 12:06 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  Many questions seem to remain unanswered about the consequences of UConn's departure with respect to the AAC's broadcasting agreement with ESPN, which seems to have been the subject of intensive renegotiations.

All we seem to know for sure is that UConn will be paying $17 million in penalties for leaving the conference. Each AAC all-sports member will be paid ~$1.5 million, but those distributions won't be completed until 2026 (see below).

Until quite recently, most of us were under the impression that the departure of UConn would have no adverse impact on the structure of payments from ESPN to the AAC, because the signed contract was to remain in full force as long as no more than one AAC school departed the conference.

Beyond that, there was for a short time some chatter about the hope that ESPN's annual payments to the AAC would not decrease after UConn's departure. If that were the case, the money that would have gone to UConn for the duration of the contract would have been disseminated to the AAC schools. That hope definitely seems to have been overoptimistic.

It's hard for most of us to tell, but it's beginning to appear that ESPN has been trying to take advantage of the situation, or that the conference may be in for some bad news, given that there seem to have been intensive conversations and negotiations with ESPN in recent weeks.

Does anyone know if ESPN is using the departure of UConn to seek concessions from the AAC? That's the way it seems to appear, especially given that Commissioner Aresco seems very unwilling to disclose the terms of the revised or updated agreement.



.
UConn officially leaving AAC in 2020, paying $17 million exit fee.

"The AAC bylaws required a 27-month notice before departing, but UConn negotiated (an) early exit.

The cost — $17 million. The AAC’s exit fee is $10 million, so UConn paid an additional $7 million for the right to depart early. The cost will be spread out through the end of the 2026 fiscal year."

https://www.ctpost.com/uconn/article/UCo...178493.php

"It's hard for most of us to tell, but it's beginning to appear that ESPN has been trying to take advantage of the situation, or that the conference may be in for some bad news, given that there seem to have been intensive conversations and negotiations with ESPN in recent weeks.

What is the source of this statement?

(02-16-2020 12:29 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  the assumption has always been ESPN will simply remove UConn's share until a 12th member is added. I think the delay is due to the waiver...ESPN now has time to court 'inventory' (12th team) from Fox/CBS (MWC) such as CSU or AF (football only) to fill in their late time spots.

a big chunk of UConn 17 million is forfeited revenue for this season which will start paying out I believe next season to the remaining members...that will greatly help offset ESPN+ production costs.

Same BS, different site.

(02-16-2020 01:10 PM)Reverend Wrote:  

(02-16-2020 12:29 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  the assumption has always been ESPN will simply remove UConn's share until a 12th member is added. I think the delay is due to the waiver...ESPN now has time to court 'inventory' (12th team) from Fox/CBS (MWC) such as CSU or AF (football only) to fill in their late time spots.

a big chunk of UConn 17 million is forfeited revenue for this season which will start paying out I believe next season to the remaining members...that will greatly help offset ESPN+ production costs.

Same BS, different site.

I'm consistent because it fits the available facts. I call that logic...

(02-16-2020 12:06 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  Many questions seem to remain unanswered about the consequences of UConn's departure with respect to the AAC's broadcasting agreement with ESPN, which seems to have been the subject of intensive renegotiations.

All we seem to know for sure is that UConn will be paying $17 million in penalties for leaving the conference. Each AAC all-sports member will be paid ~$1.5 million, but those distributions won't be completed until 2026 (see below).

Until quite recently, most of us were under the impression that the departure of UConn would have no adverse impact on the structure of payments from ESPN to the AAC, because the signed contract was to remain in full force as long as no more than one AAC school departed the conference.

Beyond that, there was for a short time some chatter about the hope that ESPN's annual payments to the AAC would not decrease after UConn's departure. If that were the case, the money that would have gone to UConn for the duration of the contract would have been disseminated to the AAC schools. That hope definitely seems to have been overoptimistic.

It's hard for most of us to tell, but it's beginning to appear that ESPN has been trying to take advantage of the situation, or that the conference may be in for some bad news, given that there seem to have been intensive conversations and negotiations with ESPN in recent weeks.

Does anyone know if ESPN is using the departure of UConn to seek concessions from the AAC? That's the way it seems to appear, especially given that Commissioner Aresco seems very unwilling to disclose the terms of the revised or updated agreement.



.
UConn officially leaving AAC in 2020, paying $17 million exit fee.

"The AAC bylaws required a 27-month notice before departing, but UConn negotiated (an) early exit.

The cost — $17 million. The AAC’s exit fee is $10 million, so UConn paid an additional $7 million for the right to depart early. The cost will be spread out through the end of the 2026 fiscal year."

https://www.ctpost.com/uconn/article/UCo...178493.php

Regarding the bolded:
- Despite some not-fully-informed discussion about the reports of only one departure not spurring re-negotiation, the consensus here quickly shifted to the reports that ESPN could open good faith negotiations for adjustment.
- First followup thought -- including by Sports Business Journal's Ourand -- was just because they CAN doesn't even necessarily mean they WILL. More recently it has been reported that they will, even if they didn't initially indicate
- Some facile thinkers default to 1/12th of the annual average value.
- Given that the contract has been widely reported to hold 70-80% of its value in football rather than MBB or other sports, thoughtful people here have estimated that UConn isn't worth a full 1/12th.
- I wish I had bookmarked it, but one ECU poster was at a recent (last week or so) event with ECU AD, who said ESPN would pull back a little money, but not a full 1/12th share of the $83.3M aav.

Moreover, UConn's initial payments towards the $17M was to be forfeiture of 2018-19 and 2019-20 AAC disbursements (made up of TV money, CFP money, NCAA Tournament money, sposnsorship money, etc).
More money for all in the two payments since UConn's announcement of departure.
From 2020-21 year onward, more than $6.94M per team from the Disney primary rights deal (but not too much more, if the UConn pullback is (my own SWAG) around $5M aav).
Also from 2020-21 year onward, CFP money will be divided 11 ways instead of 12 - that's a couple hundred grand to pay an assistant coach.

(02-16-2020 12:40 PM)Fishpro10987 Wrote:  

(02-16-2020 12:06 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  Many questions seem to remain unanswered about the consequences of UConn's departure with respect to the AAC's broadcasting agreement with ESPN, which seems to have been the subject of intensive renegotiations.

All we seem to know for sure is that UConn will be paying $17 million in penalties for leaving the conference. Each AAC all-sports member will be paid ~$1.5 million, but those distributions won't be completed until 2026 (see below).

Until quite recently, most of us were under the impression that the departure of UConn would have no adverse impact on the structure of payments from ESPN to the AAC, because the signed contract was to remain in full force as long as no more than one AAC school departed the conference.

Beyond that, there was for a short time some chatter about the hope that ESPN's annual payments to the AAC would not decrease after UConn's departure. If that were the case, the money that would have gone to UConn for the duration of the contract would have been disseminated to the AAC schools. That hope definitely seems to have been overoptimistic.

It's hard for most of us to tell, but it's beginning to appear that ESPN has been trying to take advantage of the situation, or that the conference may be in for some bad news, given that there seem to have been intensive conversations and negotiations with ESPN in recent weeks.

Does anyone know if ESPN is using the departure of UConn to seek concessions from the AAC? That's the way it seems to appear, especially given that Commissioner Aresco seems very unwilling to disclose the terms of the revised or updated agreement.



.
UConn officially leaving AAC in 2020, paying $17 million exit fee.

"The AAC bylaws required a 27-month notice before departing, but UConn negotiated (an) early exit.

The cost — $17 million. The AAC’s exit fee is $10 million, so UConn paid an additional $7 million for the right to depart early. The cost will be spread out through the end of the 2026 fiscal year."

https://www.ctpost.com/uconn/article/UCo...178493.php

"It's hard for most of us to tell, but it's beginning to appear that ESPN has been trying to take advantage of the situation, or that the conference may be in for some bad news, given that there seem to have been intensive conversations and negotiations with ESPN in recent weeks.

What is the source of this statement?

Yeah---I'm curious about that as well. This was about as close as I could find---it says talks are going on....nothing about them being intense or it being bad news.

https://morningconsult.com/2019/12/12/es...-big-east/

(02-16-2020 02:36 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(02-16-2020 12:40 PM)Fishpro10987 Wrote:  

(02-16-2020 12:06 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  Many questions seem to remain unanswered about the consequences of UConn's departure with respect to the AAC's broadcasting agreement with ESPN, which seems to have been the subject of intensive renegotiations.

All we seem to know for sure is that UConn will be paying $17 million in penalties for leaving the conference. Each AAC all-sports member will be paid ~$1.5 million, but those distributions won't be completed until 2026 (see below).

Until quite recently, most of us were under the impression that the departure of UConn would have no adverse impact on the structure of payments from ESPN to the AAC, because the signed contract was to remain in full force as long as no more than one AAC school departed the conference.

Beyond that, there was for a short time some chatter about the hope that ESPN's annual payments to the AAC would not decrease after UConn's departure. If that were the case, the money that would have gone to UConn for the duration of the contract would have been disseminated to the AAC schools. That hope definitely seems to have been overoptimistic.

It's hard for most of us to tell, but it's beginning to appear that ESPN has been trying to take advantage of the situation, or that the conference may be in for some bad news, given that there seem to have been intensive conversations and negotiations with ESPN in recent weeks.

Does anyone know if ESPN is using the departure of UConn to seek concessions from the AAC? That's the way it seems to appear, especially given that Commissioner Aresco seems very unwilling to disclose the terms of the revised or updated agreement.



.
UConn officially leaving AAC in 2020, paying $17 million exit fee.

"The AAC bylaws required a 27-month notice before departing, but UConn negotiated (an) early exit.

The cost — $17 million. The AAC’s exit fee is $10 million, so UConn paid an additional $7 million for the right to depart early. The cost will be spread out through the end of the 2026 fiscal year."

https://www.ctpost.com/uconn/article/UCo...178493.php

"It's hard for most of us to tell, but it's beginning to appear that ESPN has been trying to take advantage of the situation, or that the conference may be in for some bad news, given that there seem to have been intensive conversations and negotiations with ESPN in recent weeks.

What is the source of this statement?

Yeah---I'm curious about that as well. This was about as close as I could find---it says talks are going on....nothing about them being intense or it being bad news.

https://morningconsult.com/2019/12/12/es...-big-east/

Correct, at the time of the forum Aresco (with the ESPN rep right next to him) reiterated it wasn't a renegotiation. The above linked article seems to back that up.

Quote:Nick Dawson, vice president of programming and acquisitions at ESPN, said the network is working with AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco and his team to address UConn’s looming exit via a process outlined in the contract the parties announced in March. He noted this is standard practice for ESPN in its agreements in the event of a membership change.

The most we know about the contract at this time is that UCONN is NOT one of the teams that auto void the deal...like the previous one. We should know something when the annual state of the athletics dept. presentation to the Memphis BOT materials get uploaded to the school website. They like to dump it the Friday before the March meeting date the following week. I'll post when I see it. If past numbers are any indicator, projections should be fairly accurate.

(02-16-2020 02:25 PM)slhNavy91 Wrote:  

(02-16-2020 12:06 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  Many questions seem to remain unanswered about the consequences of UConn's departure with respect to the AAC's broadcasting agreement with ESPN, which seems to have been the subject of intensive renegotiations.

All we seem to know for sure is that UConn will be paying $17 million in penalties for leaving the conference. Each AAC all-sports member will be paid ~$1.5 million, but those distributions won't be completed until 2026 (see below).

Until quite recently, most of us were under the impression that the departure of UConn would have no adverse impact on the structure of payments from ESPN to the AAC, because the signed contract was to remain in full force as long as no more than one AAC school departed the conference.

Beyond that, there was for a short time some chatter about the hope that ESPN's annual payments to the AAC would not decrease after UConn's departure. If that were the case, the money that would have gone to UConn for the duration of the contract would have been disseminated to the AAC schools. That hope definitely seems to have been overoptimistic.

It's hard for most of us to tell, but it's beginning to appear that ESPN has been trying to take advantage of the situation, or that the conference may be in for some bad news, given that there seem to have been intensive conversations and negotiations with ESPN in recent weeks.

Does anyone know if ESPN is using the departure of UConn to seek concessions from the AAC? That's the way it seems to appear, especially given that Commissioner Aresco seems very unwilling to disclose the terms of the revised or updated agreement.



.
UConn officially leaving AAC in 2020, paying $17 million exit fee.

"The AAC bylaws required a 27-month notice before departing, but UConn negotiated (an) early exit.

The cost — $17 million. The AAC’s exit fee is $10 million, so UConn paid an additional $7 million for the right to depart early. The cost will be spread out through the end of the 2026 fiscal year."

https://www.ctpost.com/uconn/article/UCo...178493.php

Regarding the bolded:
- Despite some not-fully-informed discussion about the reports of only one departure not spurring re-negotiation, the consensus here quickly shifted to the reports that ESPN could open good faith negotiations for adjustment.
- First followup thought -- including by Sports Business Journal's Ourand -- was just because they CAN doesn't even necessarily mean they WILL. More recently it has been reported that they will, even if they didn't initially indicate
- Some facile thinkers default to 1/12th of the annual average value.
- Given that the contract has been widely reported to hold 70-80% of its value in football rather than MBB or other sports, thoughtful people here have estimated that UConn isn't worth a full 1/12th.
- I wish I had bookmarked it, but one ECU poster was at a recent (last week or so) event with ECU AD, who said ESPN would pull back a little money, but not a full 1/12th share of the $83.3M aav.

Moreover, UConn's initial payments towards the $17M was to be forfeiture of 2018-19 and 2019-20 AAC disbursements (made up of TV money, CFP money, NCAA Tournament money, sposnsorship money, etc).
More money for all in the two payments since UConn's announcement of departure.
From 2020-21 year onward, more than $6.94M per team from the Disney primary rights deal (but not too much more, if the UConn pullback is (my own SWAG) around $5M aav).
Also from 2020-21 year onward, CFP money will be divided 11 ways instead of 12 - that's a couple hundred grand to pay an assistant coach.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. At least that gives some of us a few clues about what might be going on behind the scenes.

Commissioner Aresco seems to be capable and hard-working enough, but the way he keeps everyone in the dark about what is actually taking place is starting to grind some of us the wrong way.

Transparency, Commish.

"Nick Dawson, vice president of programming and acquisitions at ESPN, said the network is working with AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco and his team to address UConn’s looming exit via a process outlined in the contract the parties announced in March."

Aresco: "UConn was a drag on our value."
Espn: "We ran the numbers and you are right. We owe you $500,000 per team more than the existing contract."

I want to improve the football side. They were an absolute anchor on the league. Good luck to them and hopefully we upgrade anyway.

ESPN has never said anything about Conn leaving
Everything has been pure speculation from people

(02-16-2020 10:19 PM)templefootballfan Wrote:  ESPN has never said anything about Conn leaving
Everything has been pure speculation from people

The link in post #7 quotes Aresco and a VP from ESPN.
Recent post from an ECU poster had their AD at a Pirate Club event talking about ESPN pulling some money back but less than 1/12th.

(02-16-2020 04:46 PM)Fishpro10987 Wrote:  "Nick Dawson, vice president of programming and acquisitions at ESPN, said the network is working with AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco and his team to address UConn’s looming exit via a process outlined in the contract the parties announced in March."

Aresco: "UConn was a drag on our value."
Espn: "We ran the numbers and you are right. We owe you $500,000 per team more than the existing contract."

If that's the story, that sounds perfectly reasonable.

It just seemed a little odd that everything was being done in such a hushed way, as if there were secrets that needed to be hidden away.

Maybe it's just Aresco's preference to do everything cloak-and-dagger style.

You don't announce finances until the deal is finalized.

(02-17-2020 01:34 AM)TripleA Wrote:  You don't announce finances until the deal is finalized.

Certainly not.

But it's time to start talking turkey, for a change.

From the AAC fan's perspective, the contract with ESPN was all set, and losing a team such as UConn was said to have absolutely no bearing on the contract.

If that had been true, then there would have been no further discussions, deliberations, negotiations, or nonsense of any kind. There would be no rumors, no leaks, no suggestions that anything whatsoever has changed.

Unfortunately, this story has been going on for about 3 weeks already. The more Aresco tries to hide the details or pretend that nothing is actually happening, the rumors and innuendos continue and begin to suggest that some kind of announcement may be impending.

If UConn's departure had no bearing on anything, since there would be no change in the broadcasting agreement or payments from ESPN, then we shouldn't have heard anything at all.

But we have heard a whole lot (no details, but a lot of chatter).

So it appears that something is going on, that there have been discussions, etc.

Truthfully, this is all starting to look kind of shady. There shouldn't have been anything to discuss, and suddenly, there seem to have been a whole lot of discussions.

So what in the hell has been going on?

Inquiring minds want to know...

p.s. Could all these discussions possibly be nothing more or less than discussions about adding team #12?

Finally, all of Aresco's efforts to keep everything top secret have begun to backfire. The more he tries to keep everything hidden, the more everyone involved tends to obsess and fret about what's happening behind the scenes. Sometimes, sunlight is the best medicine.

(02-17-2020 03:01 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(02-17-2020 01:34 AM)TripleA Wrote:  You don't announce finances until the deal is finalized.

Certainly not.

But it's time to start talking turkey, for a change.

From the AAC fan's perspective, the contract with ESPN was all set, and losing a team such as UConn was said to have absolutely no bearing on the contract.

If that had been true, then there would have been no further discussions, deliberations, negotiations, or nonsense of any kind. There would be no rumors, no leaks, no suggestions that anything whatsoever has changed.

Unfortunately, this story has been going on for about 3 weeks already. The more Aresco tries to hide the details or pretend that nothing is actually happening, the rumors and innuendos continue and begin to suggest that some kind of announcement may be impending.

If UConn's departure had no bearing on anything, since there would be no change in the broadcasting agreement or payments from ESPN, then we shouldn't have heard anything at all.

But we have heard a whole lot (no details, but a lot of chatter).

So it appears that something is going on, that there have been discussions, etc.

Truthfully, this is all starting to look kind of shady. There shouldn't have been anything to discuss, and suddenly, there seem to have been a whole lot of discussions.

So what in the hell has been going on?

Inquiring minds want to know...

p.s. Could all these discussions possibly be nothing more or less than discussions about adding team #12?

Finally, all of Aresco's efforts to keep everything top secret have begun to backfire. The more he tries to keep everything hidden, the more everyone involved tends to obsess and fret about what's happening behind the scenes. Sometimes, sunlight is the best medicine.

What chatter? What effort to keep everything secret? Didn’t an ESPN exec and Aresco sit on a public stage at an event with cameras and press and say that they were talking about how to handle the UConn exit? How is that “secret”? I suspect you haven’t heard anything more because they haven’t reached any definitive agreement. You are kinda making way too much out of nothing on this one.

UConn athletics are a complete embarrassment. Never seen such a joke.
Worst D1 FBall program in the nation with half the team transferring. 14-11 in Bball. There should be a case study done on UConn athletics over the past ten years. All you do is lose games and lose insane amounts of money.

(02-17-2020 03:01 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(02-17-2020 01:34 AM)TripleA Wrote:  You don't announce finances until the deal is finalized.

Certainly not.

But it's time to start talking turkey, for a change.

From the AAC fan's perspective, the contract with ESPN was all set, and losing a team such as UConn was said to have absolutely no bearing on the contract.

If that had been true, then there would have been no further discussions, deliberations, negotiations, or nonsense of any kind. There would be no rumors, no leaks, no suggestions that anything whatsoever has changed.

Unfortunately, this story has been going on for about 3 weeks already. The more Aresco tries to hide the details or pretend that nothing is actually happening, the rumors and innuendos continue and begin to suggest that some kind of announcement may be impending.

If UConn's departure had no bearing on anything, since there would be no change in the broadcasting agreement or payments from ESPN, then we shouldn't have heard anything at all.

But we have heard a whole lot (no details, but a lot of chatter).

So it appears that something is going on, that there have been discussions, etc.

Truthfully, this is all starting to look kind of shady. There shouldn't have been anything to discuss, and suddenly, there seem to have been a whole lot of discussions.

So what in the hell has been going on?

Inquiring minds want to know...

p.s. Could all these discussions possibly be nothing more or less than discussions about adding team #12?

Finally, all of Aresco's efforts to keep everything top secret have begun to backfire. The more he tries to keep everything hidden, the more everyone involved tends to obsess and fret about what's happening behind the scenes. Sometimes, sunlight is the best medicine.

the conference pays the commish to do these things, not you or me. I think there's a certain level of discretion that's required. there may be schools involved, that really don't, for various reasons, want their involvement to get out, in case, as likely, no deal gets done. I don't need to know all the details in real time. at some point, something will get done, and most of the backstory will seep out.

besides, all the experts on here seem to know exactly what's going on!

(02-17-2020 03:01 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(02-17-2020 01:34 AM)TripleA Wrote:  You don't announce finances until the deal is finalized.

Certainly not.

But it's time to start talking turkey, for a change.

From the AAC fan's perspective, the contract with ESPN was all set, and losing a team such as UConn was said to have absolutely no bearing on the contract.

If that had been true, then there would have been no further discussions, deliberations, negotiations, or nonsense of any kind. There would be no rumors, no leaks, no suggestions that anything whatsoever has changed.

Unfortunately, this story has been going on for about 3 weeks already. The more Aresco tries to hide the details or pretend that nothing is actually happening, the rumors and innuendos continue and begin to suggest that some kind of announcement may be impending.

If UConn's departure had no bearing on anything, since there would be no change in the broadcasting agreement or payments from ESPN, then we shouldn't have heard anything at all.

But we have heard a whole lot (no details, but a lot of chatter).

So it appears that something is going on, that there have been discussions, etc.

Truthfully, this is all starting to look kind of shady. There shouldn't have been anything to discuss, and suddenly, there seem to have been a whole lot of discussions.

So what in the hell has been going on?

Inquiring minds want to know...

p.s. Could all these discussions possibly be nothing more or less than discussions about adding team #12?

Finally, all of Aresco's efforts to keep everything top secret have begun to backfire. The more he tries to keep everything hidden, the more everyone involved tends to obsess and fret about what's happening behind the scenes. Sometimes, sunlight is the best medicine.

I think they are just still hashing things out.

The only semi-reliable info that I've gotten was from our AD last week. He said that we (AAC) will be getting less than a full 1/12th share back from UConn's exit.