Schools with large budget deficits like UConn will benefit from the influx of cash under the new dealGETTY IMAGES
The AAC's new 12-year, $1B agreement with ESPN will increase the conference's media rights by nearly four times -- an average of almost $7M for each school annually. It is still not Power Five money, but the new deal will enable AAC schools to do things like pay more for higher quality coaches and add staff. The conference also values ESPN because of the bowl games and basketball tournaments it owns. While threats of realignment always loom over the AAC, sources said that ESPN and conference officials are comfortable that the landscape has settled down. ESPN has specific language in the contract that protects the network financially if any of the AAC’s top brands exit. This deal is a win for AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco. He was not shy about his desire to secure a billion-dollar deal, and that is what he got. The deal provides ESPN with significant content for ESPN+, yet another signal of the company’s commitment to the streaming platform. By year three of the deal, '23, there will be more than 1,000 conference events from 17 sports on ESPN+ (Michael Smith, THE DAILY).
IN THE DETAILS: In Annapolis, Bill Wagner reports the annual Army-Navy football game "is excluded" from the ESPN-AAC TV package, as CBS Sports in May '17 "reached an agreement with the two service academies for a 10-year rights extension." Sources said that Navy’s biennial “home game” against Notre Dame "will be part" of the new package. ESPN "would now have rights" to Navy’s next “home game” with Notre Dame that will be played at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland in '20. CBS Sports Network has a "contract to broadcast all Navy home games." Sources said that the AAC "will now be able to choose one Navy home game per season to deliver to ESPN" as part of the new deal (Annapolis CAPITAL, 3/20).
HOW MUCH WILL IT HELP? In Hartford, Alex Putterman in a front-page piece notes the deal will add some extra cash to UConn's athletic department which, "badly needs it," especially as "conference payouts from the breakup of the Big East dry up." UConn reported a $41M deficit for FY '18. The deal "will not solve the athletic department’s issues or satisfy fans who believe UConn should have found its way into a more lucrative conference, but it will add a few million dollars in TV revenue" (HARTFORD COURANT, 3/20). In Wichita, Taylor Eldridge notes it is "unclear how much of a cut" Wichita State, a non-football member of the AAC, will receive from the deal. WSU is "currently not receiving a cut of the AAC media rights deal because it was not a member of the conference when the deal was negotiated, so anything the Shockers receive" starting in the '20-21 season "will be better than the previous three years" (WICHITA EAGLE, 3/20).
