(10-21-2021 09:36 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 09:08 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 07:13 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 07:09 PM)freshtop Wrote:  AAC taking 6, SBC looking at 4, MAC looking at 2. ESPN wants to kill C-USA and it looks like they will succeed. Let this be a lesson to every other conference. Don't mess with ESPN.

ESPN's Checklist...
Big East? Check.
Big 12? Almost.
C-USA? TBD.

Maybe.

It seems they needed the quantity of inventory as well as the geographic coverage and then being the dominant G5 in the large southern markets.. UNT instead of ODU seemed to be a defensive move vs. MWC.

That they'd choose UNT over Old Dominion is puzzling.

ODU has been a destabilizing voice in C-USA, vocal through writer Harry Minium about their disdain for being associated with schools in Texas and west of the Mississippi River. UNT’s AD has been a good soldier within C-USA. I wish ODU well in the Sunbelt or wherever, and am happy Aresco has put together a dream West division for Rice.

(10-21-2021 09:06 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 08:41 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 08:30 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 08:18 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  I'm assuming that's journalists being bad at math
...
Or the AAC deal escalates sharply, and the current payout is around $4m per school, escalating to maybe $10M per at the end for an average of $7M.

Sure, if you assume that the public reporting about things is all wrong and assign numbers that fit your narrative, anything's possible. All I can go off of is the reporting that the new members will start a little over $2 million and that the current AAC deal (this is the first year of it, I believe) started around $6 million and escalated to over $8 million over the course of 12 years.

Whatever the starting number is, the report is that the continuing members’ annual TV money will not decrease, while the newbie six will see increases every year from their low starting point.

That might mean that the annual increase in payments from ESPN over the life of the deal will go toward annual hikes for the noobs, while the continuing members will annually receive at least the amount they are each getting in year one.

1) I sincerely doubt that the legacy members of the AAC are foregoing raises for a full decade so that the incoming members can have bigger raises. It's almost certain that everyone is seeing some sort of increase annually.

2) Even if I'm wrong and ESPN is leaving the deal wholly intact, getting the same money for 14 schools that you were previously getting for 11 is still a per-school paycut.

It really all depends on how the deal is structured. Yes, the average is 7m, but it could have started at 4 and ended at 10 or something.

So a quick math possibility is that the new members get half shares either way (3 shares spread over 6 teams). So the OG's are at 4 and will get to 10, and the newbies start with 2 and get to 5. Equity comes back in the next contract.

Another potential is that the existing members are keeping their cut "now" (so Aresco can say they are), but the newbies play catch up over time to where everyone ends the deal at ~8. Yes, that would mean the newbies get bigger dollar value raises each year.

Yet another potential scenario is that the exist fees are being earmarked for either getting the new schools up to par or keeping the originals whole. Splice it however makes you feel better, but it's just accounting.

Either way, all speculation.

The AAC is not a stable entity going forward. SMU and Memphis do not want to be in a conference with UTSA and Charlotte. It's the equivalent of Syracuse being placed in a conference with Buffalo and Bowling Green.