6 CUSA teams applying to join AAC

[FeralFelidae]

I'm actually not sure why the AAC would want all six of them, but this seems to have been negotiated behind the scenes. Some have speculated that ESPN is pulling the strings.

• Charlotte
• UNT
• UTSA
• FAU
• Rice
• UAB

UTSA has potential and is the only dog in town, so I can see the appeal. UAB has a strong basketball program and a resurgent football program. FAU has made major investments in their football program (their stadium is very nice for its size).

I guess UNT sits in the Dallas area, although they're way down on the pecking order there. I don't see the appeal of Charlotte with their 15000-capacity football stadium, and I can't see how Rice moves the needle. I can think of a couple of Sun Belt (App St. and Troy) and MAC teams, and Liberty, that would seem like better pickins. Or Marshall out of CUSA.

 

[zeek55]

Sounds like they want to cut the MWC out from Texas. MWC was talking to those Texas schools.

 

[Styre]

This looks like it's based entirely on TV markets rather than competitiveness. Which doesn't make sense for this conference because these programs don't draw eyeballs in the first place and there isn't an AAC Network to put on regional cable, but that has to be what they're thinking.

 

[zeek55]

This looks like it's based entirely on TV markets rather than competitiveness. Which doesn't make sense for this conference because these programs don't draw eyeballs in the first place and there isn't an AAC Network to put on regional cable, but that has to be what they're thinking.

ESPN is the key to this probably. ESPN just wants games/content for ESPN+.

Who knows whether anybody will watch, but AAC has been tied to the hip of ESPN as a quasi-lackey.

Without ESPN approval, doubt they would have gone above 12. But I agree to some extent, hard to see how many eyeballs these games would get on ESPN+ which is where most of those games will be.

 

[timbfischer]

I'm actually not sure why the AAC would want all six of them, but this seems to have been negotiated behind the scenes. Some have speculated that ESPN is pulling the strings.

• Charlotte
• UNT
• UTSA
• FAU
• Rice
• UAB

UTSA has potential and is the only dog in town, so I can see the appeal. UAB has a strong basketball program and a resurgent football program. FAU has made major investments in their football program (their stadium is very nice for its size).

I guess UNT sits in the Dallas area, although they're way down on the pecking order there. I don't see the appeal of Charlotte with their 15000-capacity football stadium, and I can't see how Rice moves the needle. I can think of a couple of Sun Belt (App St. and Troy) and MAC teams, and Liberty, that would seem like better pickins. Or Marshall out of CUSA.

Rice is awesome and is my NU-away-from-NU, at least for the baseball. Would be awesome to see this for them. Great University, and Houston will support their baseball team if they get good again.

 

[Deeringfish]

I don't even know what half those initials stand for.

 

[FeralFelidae]

Latest rumors are Marshall and Southern Miss will leave CUSA for the Sun Belt.

CUSA very well might collapse.

 

[hdhntr1]

I'm actually not sure why the AAC would want all six of them, but this seems to have been negotiated behind the scenes. Some have speculated that ESPN is pulling the strings.

• Charlotte
• UNT
• UTSA
• FAU
• Rice
• UAB

UTSA has potential and is the only dog in town, so I can see the appeal. UAB has a strong basketball program and a resurgent football program. FAU has made major investments in their football program (their stadium is very nice for its size).

I guess UNT sits in the Dallas area, although they're way down on the pecking order there. I don't see the appeal of Charlotte with their 15000-capacity football stadium, and I can't see how Rice moves the needle. I can think of a couple of Sun Belt (App St. and Troy) and MAC teams, and Liberty, that would seem like better pickins. Or Marshall out of CUSA.

Why would they want them?

 

[FeralFelidae]

Why would they want them?

They must be under the impression that it will somehow help them with their next TV contract.

 

[zeek55]

They must be under the impression that it will somehow help them with their next TV contract.

ESPN sounds like they're going to mostly keep them whole.

Current AAC schools will get $7m per school per year, the new 6 will get $2m per school per year which will increase over time to parity.

It makes sense for ESPN short-term who mostly just wants content for ESPN+ out of this deal.

Rationale is probably that fans of big name schools that get ESPN+ will watch some of these games on random Thursdays/Fridays if they have nothing better to do.

Will it long-term work? I'm skeptical to say the least.

It works during bowl season when people will watch two random schools play, but doubt this generates enough long-term value for ESPN+ to pay the AAC $7-8m per school to 14 of them long-term without any even mid-size brands in there.

 

[FeralFelidae]

ESPN sounds like they're going to mostly keep them whole.

Current AAC schools will get $7m per school per year, the new 6 will get $2m per school per year which will increase over time to parity.

It makes sense for ESPN short-term who mostly just wants content for ESPN+ out of this deal.

Rationale is probably that fans of big name schools that get ESPN+ will watch some of these games on random Thursdays/Fridays if they have nothing better to do.

Will it long-term work? I'm skeptical to say the least.

It works during bowl season when people will watch two random schools play, but doubt this generates enough long-term value for ESPN+ to pay the AAC $7-8m per school to 14 of them long-term without any even mid-size brands in there.

There's no way ESPN will keep paying $7 million per school for that conference that is losing Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati and replacing them with these teams. I just don't see it.

 

[zeek55]

There's no way ESPN will keep paying $7 million per school for that conference that is losing Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati and replacing them with these teams. I just don't see it.

I agree with that. At some point ESPN will force them to take a paycut.

There is no way the games for this new AAC will generate $100m in TV value annually.

 

[FeralFelidae]

Looks like this is the end for CUSA.



So, if ESPN told the AAC to raid six teams in "good TV markets" from CUSA, then nudged the Sun Belt to take a few others (the AAC and Sun Belt are both ESPN-affiliated conferences, whereas CUSA's primary network is the CBS Sports Network), does that open them up to any kind of antitrust action? It's funny that the AAC first tried to raid the Mountain West (a non-ESPN conference), then when the Mountain West held together, the AAC went after CUSA, but took NO teams from the Sun Belt. (App St. would surely be a better pick than some of the teams they took.)

Should ESPN be able to direct the conferences in its thrall to kill a rival conference?

 

[Styre]

Looks like this is the end for CUSA.

View embedded media

So, if ESPN told the AAC to raid six teams in "good TV markets" from CUSA, then nudged the Sun Belt to take a few others (the AAC and Sun Belt are both ESPN-affiliated conferences, whereas CUSA's primary network is the CBS Sports Network), does that open them up to any kind of antitrust action? It's funny that the AAC first tried to raid the Mountain West (a non-ESPN conference), then when the Mountain West held together, the AAC went after CUSA, but took NO teams from the Sun Belt. (App St. would surely be a better pick than some of the teams they took.)

Should ESPN be able to direct the conferences in its thrall to kill a rival conference?

ESPN also has C-USA rights, they just put everything on ESPN+ because the conference is a ratings graveyard. ESPN2 picked up UTSA @ UTEP on 11/6, though.

 

[FeralFelidae]

ESPN also has C-USA rights, they just put everything on ESPN+ because the conference is a ratings graveyard. ESPN2 picked up UTSA @ UTEP on 11/6, though.

Is the Sun Belt a ratings bonanza? Yes, some CUSA games make it to ESPN networks (some make it to Stadium, etc.), but CUSA's primary contract is with CBS Sports Network. UTSA @ UTEP slipped through the cracks because who was expecting UTSA and UTEP to be battling for the top spot in the West?

If CUSA ratings are so bad, despite these 5+1 teams in major TV markets that the AAC is poaching, then is the "choosing teams based on the TV markets in which they reside regardless of whether anybody watches them" a flawed business model?

 

[Styre]

Is the Sun Belt a ratings bonanza? Yes, some CUSA games make it to ESPN networks (some make it to Stadium, etc.), but CUSA's primary contract is with CBS Sports Network. UTSA @ UTEP slipped through the cracks because who was expecting UTSA and UTEP to be battling for the top spot in the West?

If CUSA ratings are so bad, despite these 5+1 teams in major TV markets that the AAC is poaching, then is the "choosing teams based on the TV markets in which they reside regardless of whether anybody watches them" a flawed business model?

The Sun Belt is not a ratings bonanza, but Sun Belt teams are willing to play on random weeknights to fill inventory for ESPN, while C-USA only plays occasional Friday games. You rarely see Sun Belt national TV games on Saturdays.

C-USA's "primary contract" with CBSSN is for six football games (plus the conference championship, because nobody else wanted it) and a comically small amount of money. This is not about ESPN trying to crush a competitor. CBS won't even notice those games are gone.

And yes, it's a flawed business model, unless you have your own TV network. If the AAC thinks they're going to haul in giant amounts of extra TV money because they added Rice and Charlotte, they're in for a rude awakening.

 

[EvanstonCat]

I'm actually not sure why the AAC would want all six of them, but this seems to have been negotiated behind the scenes. Some have speculated that ESPN is pulling the strings.

• Charlotte
• UNT
• UTSA
• FAU
• Rice
• UAB

UTSA has potential and is the only dog in town, so I can see the appeal. UAB has a strong basketball program and a resurgent football program. FAU has made major investments in their football program (their stadium is very nice for its size).

I guess UNT sits in the Dallas area, although they're way down on the pecking order there. I don't see the appeal of Charlotte with their 15000-capacity football stadium, and I can't see how Rice moves the needle. I can think of a couple of Sun Belt (App St. and Troy) and MAC teams, and Liberty, that would seem like better pickins. Or Marshall out of CUSA.

I would have taken SMU and the Pony Express instead of or before UNT and Rice for sure
Massive tradition and (aged) fanbase. And 7-0 and ranked right now

 

[Styre]

I would have taken SMU and the Pony Express instead of or before UNT and Rice for sure
Massive tradition and (aged) fanbase. And 7-0 and ranked right now

They already have SMU.

 

[zeek55]

The Sun Belt is not a ratings bonanza, but Sun Belt teams are willing to play on random weeknights to fill inventory for ESPN, while C-USA only plays occasional Friday games. You rarely see Sun Belt national TV games on Saturdays.

C-USA's "primary contract" with CBSSN is for six football games (plus the conference championship, because nobody else wanted it) and a comically small amount of money. This is not about ESPN trying to crush a competitor. CBS won't even notice those games are gone.

And yes, it's a flawed business model, unless you have your own TV network. If the AAC thinks they're going to haul in giant amounts of extra TV money because they added Rice and Charlotte, they're in for a rude awakening.

Yeah, a lot of these schools/conferences are likely in for a rude awakening as we shift to the OTT model more and more.

There's just no way that ESPN will be able to maintain these payouts at these levels unless somehow there's like 50+ million people willing to pay ESPN+ $10+ a month... which just seems like it's not going to happen.

Sports have benefited more from the bundle than anyone else; that's the most misunderstood thing about it. Yes they bring in the live ratings, but they also piggyback on being a part of a package of content that everyone wants because it has everything.

Split them up, and there's not enough dedicated sports fans just paying for OTT.

And ESPN is already locked into massive payments to the major leagues, so it's going to be others that bear the brunt of cuts as we move to a universe where there's less than 50 million bundle buyers and the rest are split up among Netflix/Amazon Prime/Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+/the rest.

 

[FeralFelidae]

CUSA announces four replacements. Two are FBS already and two will jump up from FCS. One of the FCS teams is the defending national champion. Liberty is flush with cash and is probably better than any of the departing schools, but (like BYU) conferences were hesitant to add an institution with such a religious culture.

NMSU is a very solid basketball team and will be a natural travel partner (sharing an airport) for UTEP, which was always isolated on the western tip of Texas.

CUSA needs to add at least one more full member, I believe, to maintain FBS status. I would want to try to add Idaho (who used to be FBS) and Montana, who would also be natural travel partners and would give UTEP and NMSU a couple more schools in the Mountain time zone, although I don't know if they would be interested in the jump. Then maybe add UConn and UMass as football-only schools and separate the football into east and west divisions.

With NMSU joining in 2023, no longer being independent and having to support a conference schedule, I wonder if their future, planned game with Northwestern in 2023 will be dropped. NU might have to start looking for a replacement.

 

[FeralFelidae]

Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss announce they're leaving Conference USA this summer.

Conference USA says, "Not so fast!" and releases 2022 schedules that include these teams.

Legal action is threatened.

https://theathletic.com/news/sun-be...leave-conference-usa-on-june-30/EPNQzb3vH54Y/

 

[Eurocat]

I see FAU mentioned but where is the other small school in the Miami are - FIU - in all of this?

It was amazing that three years ago both had former NFL Head Coaches leading their programs!

 

[FeralFelidae]

I see FAU mentioned but where is the other small school in the Miami are - FIU - in all of this?

It was amazing that three years ago both had former NFL Head Coaches leading their programs!

Heh, those schools aren't all that small, but Florida has such a wealth of entertainment options that I don't think they're much of a draw for the casual fan.

FAU, though, has a very nice stadium for its size. I guess they have a head start in facilities compared to FIU.

FIU is stuck with LA Tech and UTEP as the schools left standing up without a seat when the music stopped.

 

[wicker]

Conference USA
Doesn't have full membership.
We hardly knew ye

This alphabet soup
Of conferences and their schools
Seems hard to digest.