AAC ESPN close to a tier 1 deal?

Those number were made up. Rudd never said 8 mil. Mike kept a close lip. The AAC
need between 18 to 25 mil to be a tier 1 deal. And if you think we can get that amount of money, you don’t understand tier 1 deals.

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are you talking per team??? 18-25 mil per has 0.000% chance of happening…

18 to 25 mil per team is a tier 1 deal for all sports. But we will see.

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I really have no idea what to expect. Hope for the best and do expect it to be much better than the last contract.

On another note though, people really should not speak in absolutes. None of us know what the results will be.

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I think you may be confused. “Tier 1 deal” here is a deal for what ESPN considers our top games in basketball and football. 8 million sound about right, but I am assuming the conference will be selling the tier 2 games instead of ESPN, which may add another million or two per school.

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It’s not the total the conference receives from the ESPN that really matters.

We need to be focusing on increasing our take from the AAC based on our (and Memphis, UCF, Cincy, USF) results and contributions (how many “tier 1” games did’t involve those 5?) to the league.

What are Tulane, Tulsa, ECU, SMU contributing in terms of content/results?

And of course that’s tier-one TV rights only. Also figure in lower-tier rights from probably CBS Sports as well as CFP money (add an additional four million to that total if AAC is in the access bowl, as we’ve been the last two seasons), NCAA Tournament money, etc. If we could start selling out football like we do basketball, we may be able to ease our financial woes considerably.

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Several major negative factors at play here: cord-cutting with ESPN, ESPN having to pay the massive NBA tv deal and the AAC having no true blue blood programs. I guess Cincy, UH, Memphis, UCF, and UConn (basketball) are the closest “blue bloods” in the AAC but none are even the “bluest” schools in their state except UConn in tiny Connecticut. Everyone forgets how the likes of USC, UT, OU, Michigan, OSU, Clemson, etc… prop up their conferences. I think we end up around $4 million/year/school ($50 million per year for whole conference) which would be 100% increase but still chump change. I’m guessing 6 years $300 million total for all AAC schools to split.

Based on our football ratings, I figure we’ll get between $5M to $8M per year per school.

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Cord cutting isn’t as big of a deal anymore. Cable networks and ESPN have adjusted and are on most streaming services now. The plays have changed, but the game is the same.

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Ugh… {Edit: Revcoog set me straight on the Twitter phenomenon that is #MakeMeCringeIn4Words}

https://twitter.com/C_Austin_Cox/status/1098573374291431424?s=19

If AAC games are relegated to ESPN+ then the conference commissioner needs to be fired. I have heard many people say this Austin Cox is not a credible source and is constantly wrong.

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Dont believe every bird song you hear…

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Cox isn’t reporting that this will happen. It’s a Twitter thing: He’s filling in the blanks of “Make me cringe in four words.” His four words are “AAC on ESPN Plus.” Like mine might be “Skip Bayless twenty-four seven” or “UT Houston a reality.”

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Thanks! Oh the dangers of an old person using social media…had me cringing at the possible reality. sorry for the false alarm.

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I could see some of our games (not tier 1 football or basketball) being relegated to ESPN+. They need content and we need money. If it means a bigger payout, I imagine it will happen.

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“ESPN+ is the devil!”-The Waterboy’s Mom

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No one has “zero bargaining power”.

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The Sun Belt Conference actually loses money on their TV deal. So they have less than zero bargaining power!

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How did they manage that?