UConn Smoke

[Xudash]

I think both your comments/thoughts are fantastic - - in a truly good way.

Quick question - and something else that could be spurring this along: when does the old BE separation money run out for UCONN? In a world where their finances are already a mess, that will be like gtmo receiving extended shore leave (a different kind of nasty, but nasty nonetheless).

It already ran out. UC/UConn/USF were receiving nearly $10 million annually between the AAC TV deal, BE War Chest funds, CFP money, NCAA Credits, etc. from 2014-2018. In order for those schools to not take a paycut, the next deal needs to be at least $10 million per school per year, which the current estimates for the conference fall short of the projections (the SBJ said 3-4x the current deal, which would mean it to between $5 and $7 million).

The divorce settlement (war chest) funds were around $3 million annually for those three schools. This was part of the $100 million the C7 gave to the AAC in return for the Big East name and history. Those were paid out over the five years post-split. I want to say that between $85 and $90 million stayed with UC/UConn/USF and the remainder was paid out equally to the rest of the new AAC members.

Thank you.

How does an institution get to a place where it sinks so much money into what could only realistically be seen as a long shot - pick from any number of reasons, not the least of which is that New England is not a hotbed for D1A football - that it now believes it has to double down when doubling down means a river of red ink financially.

One last thought: when going through all this in the last round, it was reasonable to not want to bring in a football school due to the lack of alignment and the risk of a particular school bolting to a better place for it down the road. There doesn't appear to be a "down the road" for UCONN anymore. It has arrived at a T-Intersection, and if continues to go straight too much longer through that intersection, well, we all get that picture.

[ProprietyofLeyluken]

UConn has seen up close and personal what Indy football can do for a university - with UMass being next door.

Hypothetically, if UConn gave up on FB, would the AAC pick up UMass to take their spot?

Given Val’s quote, could UMass be on the table for the Big East? They’re in relative proximity to NYC.

Or, would Marquette and DePaul get the ol CUSA band back together by supporting St Louis for inclusion as #11?

Lots to think about.

[JPSchmack]

I think what happened is exactly what was reported.

The reports said he was going to ask select schools to sign this. He probably went to UCF/Memphis/Cinci/etc with his proposal, and they laughed it off. Now of course he needs to backtrack. He can't just say "oh yeah, I asked UCF to sign GOR and they said they rather keep their options open".

His comments don't change anything, aside from most likely confirming that the GOR won't happen. If the GOR was done in response to expecting UConn to leave, then nothing has changed.

Right. But somehow that got twisted into "UConn to the Big East" rumors.

The AAC is always going to be raided if any P5 conferences decide to expand, and everyone would bail on the AAC the second a P5 offer came in. So legit P5 targets are not signing that GOR without a sweetheart deal. While UConn was considered by the Big XII last time, they weren't serious finalists (And being 1-11 in football while UCF has a 25-0 streak and is in prime recruiting territory the B12 doesn't have, that ain't helping either. Realistically, UConn has one place to go: The ACC. And they aren't adding a member unless Notre Dame gives up football independence, or the SEC/Big Ten adds an ACC member.

In other words, NOTHING has changed for UConn/the American. It's the same situation it's been since the Big XII passed on expanding.

Likewise, Val said what amounts to: If the other P5 conferences go to 20-game basketball schedules and stop playing Big East schools OOC, the Big East would likely follow suit by adding an 11th member to replace those games (The BE vs P5 games were 32 last year, 29 this year, but the Big Ten isn't scheduling the Big East less this year: 15 vs 15).


So nothing has changed for the Big East, or the American. Or the ACC/Big 12/Big Ten. Or UConn.

Everyone's acting like the Big East is going to add UConn, and they're going to go independent for football or drop it entirely. And none of that makes any sense. There's no reason for any of that to happen when nothing has changed. UConn isn't at some cross-roads. They made their choice.

And if ANYTHING happens with the ACC, Big Ten or SEC with expansion, they're fine (new ACC members).
The only way they're not fine is if the Big XII adds American members but not them. Which the Big XII has no reason to do now that they can have a Big XII football championship game with 10 members.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

It is hard to envisage the [Big east University Presidents] having any interest in UConn basketball before the various investigations and possible sanctions have been concluded, nor before the Huskies' football program has found a new conference. This will not be easy to sell to the university's big donors, who have poured tens of millions of dollars into Huskies' football.

Realistically, UConn's options for football would be limited to the Colonial Athletic Association or Patriot League.

So, here's my theory:

UConn and the Big East plan to align next year, though not planning to announce until end of the season.

I doubt all this happens, but I don't think it's unrealistic.

I do. The "UConn to the Big East" faction on this thread have offered no plausible plans for the Huskies' football program. Does it just disappear altogether?

Given the very considerable interest of the Connecticut media in the topic, it will not be easy to keep any realignment agreements from the public. To wit:

Public Records at UConn - Freedom of Information and Transparency - University of Connecticut

As a public agency and state-supported institution of higher education, UConn is subject to the requirements of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act.

The FOIA is a state law that promotes government transparency by providing access to the public records and meetings of public agencies in the state of Connecticut. At UConn, we are committed to responding to public records requests as promptly as possible while also protecting the privacy rights of our students and employees.

Freedom of Information Act - State of Connecticut

Freedom of Information Act. Section 1-210. Access to public records. Exempt records. - State of Connecticut

No exemption for records of correspondence and/or minutes of meetings between UConn officials and representatives of other athletic conference(s) that UConn may wish to engage in exploratory discussions. It goes without saying that secret informal contacts made through intermediaries is always a possibility, but any discussions that even begin to have a whiff of official legitimacy will be recorded and subject to Connecticut's Freedom of Information Act. Local journalists just love breaking this sort of thing to the public. Leaks also occur. In short, it’s hard to keep anything a secret at a state university.

[admin]

It's a fair point that if there have been any actual discussions between UCONN and the Big East, the FOIA would flesh it out pretty quickly.

[GoldenWarrior11]

I think both your comments/thoughts are fantastic - - in a truly good way.

Quick question - and something else that could be spurring this along: when does the old BE separation money run out for UCONN? In a world where their finances are already a mess, that will be like gtmo receiving extended shore leave (a different kind of nasty, but nasty nonetheless).

It already ran out. UC/UConn/USF were receiving nearly $10 million annually between the AAC TV deal, BE War Chest funds, CFP money, NCAA Credits, etc. from 2014-2018. In order for those schools to not take a paycut, the next deal needs to be at least $10 million per school per year, which the current estimates for the conference fall short of the projections (the SBJ said 3-4x the current deal, which would mean it to between $5 and $7 million).

The divorce settlement (war chest) funds were around $3 million annually for those three schools. This was part of the $100 million the C7 gave to the AAC in return for the Big East name and history. Those were paid out over the five years post-split. I want to say that between $85 and $90 million stayed with UC/UConn/USF and the remainder was paid out equally to the rest of the new AAC members.

Wrong.... And you know it.

first off the NCAA Credits that are going to be paid in 2019 cover the 2013-18 tournaments. So 2013 was the last year of the old big east.....

For the TV Deal, it does NOT need to be 10 million for those schools to not take a paycut.... They get roughly 20 million dollars as a conference from the CFP. Then another 4 million for the access bid spot. So that's 24 million right there. They get on say 40 units from the NCAA tourney 10 million dollars.. So that's 34 million. If the new TV deal was 8 million per year per school- that's 96 million. That would be 130 million for the conference- and that's before things like the AAC tourney revenues.... That would be 10 million per school.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/college-gridiron-365/os-sp-aac-revenue-20180531-story.html

What am I wrong about?

The AAC reported revenue for 2017 to be $79.2 million, which was down 6% from 2016.

"According to the records, the American earned $42.179 million in postseason tournaments, including money generated from the NCAA Tournament, revenue from appearances in bowl games and a share of the College Football Playoff as mandated by the playoff management group."

In 2016-17, South Florida received $8.877 million from the AAC, followed by UConn ($8.088 million), Cincinnati ($7.659 million), Houston ($5.410 million), Tulsa ($4.937 million) and Temple ($4.920 million). USF, UConn and Cincinnati are still receiving payments as part of the $70 million in exit fees for being former members of the Big East Conference, according to the Hartford Courant.

What is clear from the records is that divorce settlement funds were around $2.5-$3 million annually. Those have dried up - they are no longer being paid out. The American has also not had a team make the Sweet 16 (UConn) since 2014, so their tournament credits will hit a substantial low in the coming years (the 2017 payout was only a total of $$5,135,352.00 - only $427k per school). For 2018, the American had the same number of tournament wins as the A10, once again.

[stever20]

What am I wrong about?

The AAC reported revenue for 2017 to be $79.2 million, which was down 6% from 2016.

"According to the records, the American earned $42.179 million in postseason tournaments, including money generated from the NCAA Tournament, revenue from appearances in bowl games and a share of the College Football Playoff as mandated by the playoff management group."

In 2016-17, South Florida received $8.877 million from the AAC, followed by UConn ($8.088 million), Cincinnati ($7.659 million), Houston ($5.410 million), Tulsa ($4.937 million) and Temple ($4.920 million). USF, UConn and Cincinnati are still receiving payments as part of the $70 million in exit fees for being former members of the Big East Conference, according to the Hartford Courant.

What is clear from the records is that divorce settlement funds were around $2.5-$3 million annually. Those have dried up - they are no longer being paid out. The American has also not had a team make the Sweet 16 (UConn) since 2014, so their tournament credits will hit a substantial low in the coming years (the 2017 payout was only a total of $$5,135,352.00 - only $427k per school). For 2018, the American had the same number of tournament wins as the A10, once again.

You are wrong because in your quoted amounts, the highest one was 8.877 million... Hardly 10 million. So right there, you are wrong...

But even moreso. They got 42 million from non TV sources. While that number will go down some as the NCAA tourney money goes down at least for now- that number won't go below 30 million dollars. So if the TV money was 8 million a year for discussions sake- that's 96 million. 96+30 is 126 million. Then you add in other things(42.179+say 24 for TV=66.179 million, and they had 79.2 million in total revenue- so a delta of 13 million). So would take them up to 140 million in revenue.

If you add the distros up the league distributed 62.445 million dollars. So a diffence of revenue minus distros of about 16.75 million dollars. If you keep that difference they would be distributing about 120 million dollars. Or 10 million per on average. Or more than anyone got in 2016-17 even with those exit fees.

[ArmyVet]

What is clear from the records is that divorce settlement funds were around $2.5-$3 million annually. Those have dried up - they are no longer being paid out. The American has also not had a team make the Sweet 16 (UConn) since 2014, so their tournament credits will hit a substantial low in the coming years (the 2017 payout was only a total of $$5,135,352.00 - only $427k per school). For 2018, the American had the same number of tournament wins as the A10, once again.

I suspect that of all the AAC teams the school that has probably earned the most tournament credits over the past 6 years is actually not even helping the AAC. That's Wichita State who had deep runs but probably had to leave their credits with the MVC.

[GoldenWarrior11]

What is clear from the records is that divorce settlement funds were around $2.5-$3 million annually. Those have dried up - they are no longer being paid out. The American has also not had a team make the Sweet 16 (UConn) since 2014, so their tournament credits will hit a substantial low in the coming years (the 2017 payout was only a total of $$5,135,352.00 - only $427k per school). For 2018, the American had the same number of tournament wins as the A10, once again.

I suspect that of all the AAC teams the school that has probably earned the most tournament credits over the past 6 years is actually not even helping the AAC. That's Wichita State who had deep runs but probably had to leave their credits with the MVC.

Correct. Wichita State had to forfeit its tournament shares when it left the MVC before its two-year notice.

[Bluejay]

There are a lot of intersting theories about UConn coming to the BE in this thread. Personally, I don't believe any of them though.

I think what happened with the AAC was very basic and straight forward. The TV network suggested that there may be more money and a longer deal if a GOR was in place to keep the football powers from leaving. The AAC discussed the GOR and mentioned that the football powers - UCF, Houston, Cincy, USF - would get a larger amount of the revenue under such a GOR agreement if they agreed to be bound. When hearing that they would not be included in this larger share, UConn was a little peeved and decided to approach the BE to explore options only. I do not believe that any deal was reached and I don't believe that ESPN suggested the GOR because it was worried about UConn leaving. In the AAC, the tv money is based on football----- basketball is almost a throw-in. Losing UCF or even Houston would be a much bigger blow to any TV deal than losing UConn.

Now that the football powers of the AAC have rejected the GOR, the matter is dead and UConn stays put.

The timing of the MSG deal in all of this is just a coincidence. I suspect the BE got a bit antsy when the Big 10 and ACC started airing their dreams about playing their conference tourneys at MSG, so the BE contacted MSG about an extension. MSG was also more interested in locking in a yearly tenant rather than an occasional tenant and agreed to the extension.