UCF is currently the highest-profile AAC school and the most likely target by another leagueGETTY IMAGES
The AAC is asking its member schools to "sign a grant-of-rights agreement that theoretically would lock them into the conference for the duration of the next media rights deal," according to Smith & Ourand of SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL. The AAC’s current seven-year, $126M package with ESPN expires in '20, and sources said that a new deal "could be three to four times higher, but only if the top AAC schools commit to stay in the conference." By committing to stay in the AAC, those schools "sacrifice the opportunity to jump to a more lucrative arrangement if a power five league like the Big 12 decides to expand." In return, those schools "will get a bigger share of the conference’s revenue from its next media deal." UCF, winner of 25 straight football games, is currently the "highest-profile AAC school and the most likely target by another league." AAC administrators "want to make sure it isn’t lured away by another conference, which could be a draw for UCF after missing out" on the CFP during both of its undefeated seasons in the AAC. Sources said that Memphis, Cincinnati, Houston and USF are the "other candidates most likely to be targeted by the power five." If conference brass is "able to lock up those top schools, they would create a level of stability the five-year-old AAC has not had before." Part of the negotiations have "explored the possibility of top AAC schools making more revenue than others, which is drastically different than the conference’s current deal in terms of revenue distribution," in which the conference "splits revenue evenly among its members" (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/10 issue).
STAY PUT FOR NOW? AWFUL ANNOUNCING’s Andrew Bucholtz noted beyond access to the CFP, Power 5 conferences also “seemingly offer more long-term stability and higher per-school media distributions.” Getting into a Power 5 conference “could be great” for any of the AAC schools, and “it’s quite possible to see them declining this grant-of-rights move to try and keep that option alive.” An “important question is if there really is much hope for these schools of getting into a Power 5 conference, and if they might be better off committing to their current situation.” Conference realignment overall “doesn’t seem all that likely at the moment, and both boosting the AAC media revenue dramatically and locking down a higher share of it might have its own appeal” (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 12/10).
