Details matter, so read carefully, THEN start firing holes in this. It ain’t perfect but it checks a BUNCH of boxes.

(posting this first here on the AAC off-topic forum. If anyone managed to find it here and has comments, I might take this over to the realignment board, possibly with some tweaks)

The National Collegiate Athletics League (NCAL). The NCAL is (would be) a league dedicated to the advancement of intercollegiate athletics at the amateur level.

The NCAL consists of an Alliance of at least two NCAA Athletic Conferences. For this proposal, the alliance(or League) consists of the PAC and the AAC.

The League (alliance) negotiates media rights as one entity on behalf of its two member conferences.

The conferences agree to waive (or drastically reduce) exit fees when moving between member conferences of the league, in cases when such transfers benefit the league and both member conferences.

The conferences agree to play one football OOC game between the two (basketball-style conference “challenge “ week) late in the season with the matchups selected to maximize the chances of placing the most teams (ideally two) in contention for the 6+6 CFP.

The league adopts certain organizing principles which favor the sustainment of the amateur model, while at the same time rewarding student-athletes with *reasonable* levels of remuneration for certain services to their institutions, and/or third-parties. The league takes a stand on the definition of *reasonable* (these details are not covered in this post)

The league adopts formal organizational guidelines which allow it to maintain a formal cohesion (where convenient), as well as allow it to operate as quasi-independent Conferences (also, where convenient)

Point 1. Alliances have famously failed miserably. PAC/B1G/ACC lasted only a few months before the USCLA exit. Previously, a MWC+CUSA looked to carry some promise with respect to the BCS bid, but was scuttled by NCAA units details and then by the first round of CUSA exits to the BE.

Response: by formalizing the details up front, this alliance can succeed where previous attempts have failed.

In the first iteration (to compete in athletics in fall 2024) the existing 4-member PAC would add 5 schools from the 14-member AAC. The choice of schools to switch conferences can be made with respect to geography, academics, or rivalries, or some combination in the best interests of all involved.

In practice… this means:
5 mostly academic schools move to PAC from AAC for 2024.
Both member conferences play football with 9 schools in 2024 (8-team round robin) and both conferences hold a championship game on the traditional weekend.
Existing ESPN contract with AAC is renegotiated for expansion to include the PAC at a significantly higher value per-school (but not so much as to break the bank at the world wide leader)
All existing AAC schools get a small bump in media
Legacy PAC schools get at least 2x that media money (perhaps closer to 2.5x or 3x) Let’s say 7.5M for legacy AAC, 5M for AAC newbies, and 20M for PAC legacy.
Both conferences retain their NCAA basketball credits
Both conferences retain their CFP championship eligibility (not an auto-bid, but two champions in the hat for top six conference champions)
Both conferences retain NCAA auto-bids in all other sports
PAC retains A5 autonomy status on such matters
PAC retains P5 $$ from current CFP contract through next two years to 2026.
No reason that a few MWC schools couldn’t be added in 2025, or that the league, if successful, couldn’t add a third conference (MWC) in 2025 or 2026.
The hardest part of this is making sure the details are solid. That is what Michael Aresco is built to do.

This is not a full merger, the conferences lose too much under the current contracts in place to give up two places at the table(s) just yet.

This is an alliance built from two conferences which are currently (and unexpectedly) dealing from a relative balance of power between the two.

I nominate Aresco as chair of the league organizational committee. The AAC would select an understudy from the Aresco school to be its new commissioner. The PAC names Oliver Luck as it’s new commissioner (or Luck chairs the League and Aresco stays as AAC comm).

Let me know how many things are wrong with this plan.

It’s not a merger but everyone has a spot at the table and it’s advantageous for all 18 schools involved.

(08-13-2023 12:18 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  Details matter, so read carefully, THEN start firing holes in this. It ain’t perfect but it checks a BUNCH of boxes.

(posting this first here on the AAC off-topic forum. If anyone managed to find it here and has comments, I might take this over to the realignment board, possibly with some tweaks)

The National Collegiate Athletics League (NCAL). The NCAL is (would be) a league dedicated to the advancement of intercollegiate athletics at the amateur level.

The NCAL consists of an Alliance of at least two NCAA Athletic Conferences. For this proposal, the alliance(or League) consists of the PAC and the AAC.

The League (alliance) negotiates media rights as one entity on behalf of its two member conferences.

The conferences agree to waive (or drastically reduce) exit fees when moving between member conferences of the league, in cases when such transfers benefit the league and both member conferences.

The conferences agree to play one football OOC game between the two (basketball-style conference “challenge “ week) late in the season with the matchups selected to maximize the chances of placing the most teams (ideally two) in contention for the 6+6 CFP.

The league adopts certain organizing principles which favor the sustainment of the amateur model, while at the same time rewarding student-athletes with *reasonable* levels of remuneration for certain services to their institutions, and/or third-parties. The league takes a stand on the definition of *reasonable* (these details are not covered in this post)

The league adopts formal organizational guidelines which allow it to maintain a formal cohesion (where convenient), as well as allow it to operate as quasi-independent Conferences (also, where convenient)

Point 1. Alliances have famously failed miserably. PAC/B1G/ACC lasted only a few months before the USCLA exit. Previously, a MWC+CUSA looked to carry some promise with respect to the BCS bid, but was scuttled by NCAA units details and then by the first round of CUSA exits to the BE.

Response: by formalizing the details up front, this alliance can succeed where previous attempts have failed.

In the first iteration (to compete in athletics in fall 2024) the existing 4-member PAC would add 5 schools from the 14-member AAC. The choice of schools to switch conferences can be made with respect to geography, academics, or rivalries, or some combination in the best interests of all involved.

In practice… this means:
5 mostly academic schools move to PAC from AAC for 2024.
Both member conferences play football with 9 schools in 2024 (8-team round robin) and both conferences hold a championship game on the traditional weekend.
Existing ESPN contract with AAC is renegotiated for expansion to include the PAC at a significantly higher value per-school (but not so much as to break the bank at the world wide leader)
All existing AAC schools get a small bump in media
Legacy PAC schools get at least 2x that media money (perhaps closer to 2.5x or 3x) Let’s say 7.5M for legacy AAC, 5M for AAC newbies, and 20M for PAC legacy.
Both conferences retain their NCAA basketball credits
Both conferences retain their CFP championship eligibility (not an auto-bid, but two champions in the hat for top six conference champions)
Both conferences retain NCAA auto-bids in all other sports
PAC retains A5 autonomy status on such matters
PAC retains P5 $$ from current CFP contract through next two years to 2026.
No reason that a few MWC schools couldn’t be added in 2025, or that the league, if successful, couldn’t add a third conference (MWC) in 2025 or 2026.
The hardest part of this is making sure the details are solid. That is what Michael Aresco is built to do.

This is not a full merger, the conferences lose too much under the current contracts in place to give up two places at the table(s) just yet.

This is an alliance built from two conferences which are currently (and unexpectedly) dealing from a relative balance of power between the two.

I nominate Aresco as chair of the league organizational committee. The AAC would select an understudy from the Aresco school to be its new commissioner. The PAC names Oliver Luck as it’s new commissioner (or Luck chairs the League and Aresco stays as AAC comm).

Let me know how many things are wrong with this plan.

It’s not a merger but everyone has a spot at the table and it’s advantageous for all 18 schools involved.

Aresco will just hand over the keys to Luck. Is this just a way to keep the PAC on ice for a year? What exactly would be the motive for the Serfs in Steerage. Not that I mind waiting a year.

If Aresco is going to give up his job, Why don't we just load up the bus with the brainiacs and the Beverly Hillbillies and join the PAC tomorrow?

(08-13-2023 01:35 PM)Memphis Yankee Wrote:  

(08-13-2023 12:18 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  Details matter, so read carefully, THEN start firing holes in this. It ain’t perfect but it checks a BUNCH of boxes.

(posting this first here on the AAC off-topic forum. If anyone managed to find it here and has comments, I might take this over to the realignment board, possibly with some tweaks)

The National Collegiate Athletics League (NCAL). The NCAL is (would be) a league dedicated to the advancement of intercollegiate athletics at the amateur level.

The NCAL consists of an Alliance of at least two NCAA Athletic Conferences. For this proposal, the alliance(or League) consists of the PAC and the AAC.

The League (alliance) negotiates media rights as one entity on behalf of its two member conferences.

The conferences agree to waive (or drastically reduce) exit fees when moving between member conferences of the league, in cases when such transfers benefit the league and both member conferences.

The conferences agree to play one football OOC game between the two (basketball-style conference “challenge “ week) late in the season with the matchups selected to maximize the chances of placing the most teams (ideally two) in contention for the 6+6 CFP.

The league adopts certain organizing principles which favor the sustainment of the amateur model, while at the same time rewarding student-athletes with *reasonable* levels of remuneration for certain services to their institutions, and/or third-parties. The league takes a stand on the definition of *reasonable* (these details are not covered in this post)

The league adopts formal organizational guidelines which allow it to maintain a formal cohesion (where convenient), as well as allow it to operate as quasi-independent Conferences (also, where convenient)

Point 1. Alliances have famously failed miserably. PAC/B1G/ACC lasted only a few months before the USCLA exit. Previously, a MWC+CUSA looked to carry some promise with respect to the BCS bid, but was scuttled by NCAA units details and then by the first round of CUSA exits to the BE.

Response: by formalizing the details up front, this alliance can succeed where previous attempts have failed.

In the first iteration (to compete in athletics in fall 2024) the existing 4-member PAC would add 5 schools from the 14-member AAC. The choice of schools to switch conferences can be made with respect to geography, academics, or rivalries, or some combination in the best interests of all involved.

In practice… this means:
5 mostly academic schools move to PAC from AAC for 2024.
Both member conferences play football with 9 schools in 2024 (8-team round robin) and both conferences hold a championship game on the traditional weekend.
Existing ESPN contract with AAC is renegotiated for expansion to include the PAC at a significantly higher value per-school (but not so much as to break the bank at the world wide leader)
All existing AAC schools get a small bump in media
Legacy PAC schools get at least 2x that media money (perhaps closer to 2.5x or 3x) Let’s say 7.5M for legacy AAC, 5M for AAC newbies, and 20M for PAC legacy.
Both conferences retain their NCAA basketball credits
Both conferences retain their CFP championship eligibility (not an auto-bid, but two champions in the hat for top six conference champions)
Both conferences retain NCAA auto-bids in all other sports
PAC retains A5 autonomy status on such matters
PAC retains P5 $$ from current CFP contract through next two years to 2026.
No reason that a few MWC schools couldn’t be added in 2025, or that the league, if successful, couldn’t add a third conference (MWC) in 2025 or 2026.
The hardest part of this is making sure the details are solid. That is what Michael Aresco is built to do.

This is not a full merger, the conferences lose too much under the current contracts in place to give up two places at the table(s) just yet.

This is an alliance built from two conferences which are currently (and unexpectedly) dealing from a relative balance of power between the two.

I nominate Aresco as chair of the league organizational committee. The AAC would select an understudy from the Aresco school to be its new commissioner. The PAC names Oliver Luck as it’s new commissioner (or Luck chairs the League and Aresco stays as AAC comm).

Let me know how many things are wrong with this plan.

It’s not a merger but everyone has a spot at the table and it’s advantageous for all 18 schools involved.

Aresco will just hand over the keys to Luck. Is this just a way to keep the PAC on ice for a year? What exactly would be the motive for the Serfs in Steerage. Not that I mind waiting a year.

If Aresco is going to give up his job, Why don't we just load up the bus with the brainiacs and the Beverly Hillbillies and join the PAC tomorrow?

If Aresco can figure this out (or something even remotely resembling this) then whatever position he ends up in under the new “setup” will be a raise for him.

If I’m writing the letter of recommendation for this setup, I’d rather have Aresco dealing with media negotiation of the alliance.
Luck would be the right guy to take the PAC reins, and in this scenario Luck would “loosely” report to Aresco.

And then Aresco could hand pick his successor as AAC commissioner.

Another way to think about it would be to split the current commissioner role and conglomerate the media negotiation responsibilities up to the alliance chair.
That way you could even keep Kliavkoff on board (if you really wanted to) but only at a significant pay cut due to changing the PAC commissioner role.

Put another way… the GOR goes to the alliance, but all other conference operation (normal sports operations) basically remains as-is for both conferences.