AAC, ESPN Agree To 12-Year Media-Rights Deal Worth $1B

[Hall2012]

If the 2 million people that are subscribed to ESPN+ is the new updated number, that has went up because of UFC.

Yeah, and as we've seen with FS1 there isn't exactly overlap in the audiences. UFC helped Fox get ratings but those viewers weren't tuning into Big East games. The best overlap is college basketball (like the B1G joining Fox), but mid majors aren't great company to be with.

Hall and a couple others on this board may be subscribed, but end of the day having an audience of 2 million vs 100+ million is night and day. Personally I'm a fairly big sports fan (baseball, football, golf, etc) and I've never considered subscribing.

It's all about what content you're interested in. When it was first announced, I laughed at it and never thought I would subscribe. Then they got the rights to one specific piece I was interested in - that being Italian soccer - and with something that actually interested me enough to go out of my way to watch - $5 a month is worth it.

Now, is it better to be there than on FS1? Absolutely not. Not even close. We have the majority of games on national TV which is a huge selling point that not a lot of teams can compete with. The big issue with a streaming service like that is that for the most part the only people who are going to watch your games are the ones who specifically look for it. So is this deal convenient for AAC fans who want to see all their team's games? Sure. But is it gonna get casual fans scrolling through to stop and watch? Not at all. It's probably no worse than having games marooned on CBSSN, but they probably would've been better off taking a little less money to get more games on ESPN and ESPN2 (and heck maybe even ESPNU).

[adoraz]

If the 2 million people that are subscribed to ESPN+ is the new updated number, that has went up because of UFC.

Yeah, and as we've seen with FS1 there isn't exactly overlap in the audiences. UFC helped Fox get ratings but those viewers weren't tuning into Big East games. The best overlap is college basketball (like the B1G joining Fox), but mid majors aren't great company to be with.

Hall and a couple others on this board may be subscribed, but end of the day having an audience of 2 million vs 100+ million is night and day. Personally I'm a fairly big sports fan (baseball, football, golf, etc) and I've never considered subscribing.

It's all about what content you're interested in. When it was first announced, I laughed at it and never thought I would subscribe. Then they got the rights to one specific piece I was interested in - that being Italian soccer - and with something that actually interested me enough to go out of my way to watch - $5 a month is worth it.

Now, is it better to be there than on FS1? Absolutely not. Not even close. We have the majority of games on national TV which is a huge selling point that not a lot of teams can compete with. The big issue with a streaming service like that is that for the most part the only people who are going to watch your games are the ones who specifically look for it. So is this deal convenient for AAC fans who want to see all their team's games? Sure. But is it gonna get casual fans scrolling through to stop and watch? Not at all. It's probably no worse than having games marooned on CBSSN, but they probably would've been better off taking a little less money to get more games on ESPN and ESPN2 (and heck maybe even ESPNU).

Yep, I'd definitely sign up if for example Big East basketball was on ESPN+, but the fact they only have 2 million subscribers just shows how far away they are from it becoming mainstream. I'd think the big majority of ESPN+ users only watch the content they signed up for. Are the few thousand people (guessing here) who signed up for A10 basketball really going to watch AAC basketball? I doubt it. This is 100% about the extra money.

We'll still need to see where games end up once football and basketball season start. The ratio here is key. This could for example be a death sentence for UConn football, depending on where their games are aired.

[MUPanther]

If the 2 million people that are subscribed to ESPN+ is the new updated number, that has went up because of UFC.

Yeah, and as we've seen with FS1 there isn't exactly overlap in the audiences. UFC helped Fox get ratings but those viewers weren't tuning into Big East games. The best overlap is college basketball (like the B1G joining Fox), but mid majors aren't great company to be with.

Hall and a couple others on this board may be subscribed, but end of the day having an audience of 2 million vs 100+ million is night and day. Personally I'm a fairly big sports fan (baseball, football, golf, etc) and I've never considered subscribing.

I'm also a season ticket holder for Milwaukee Panthers of the Horizon League. In past years all conference games were on ESPN3. This year it was split with espn3 and espn+. I did not get espn+. I just tuned in by the radio. Other than Panther games, why would I watch espn+. I already have ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU.

[MUPanther]

Also, I saw many say on the UConn board and such, CBSSN is lite years ahead than ESPN+. Bars have CBSSN. It's in over 50 million homes. Available to 99 million. Not really sure why many take shots at that network?

[ProprietyofLeyluken]

Also, I saw many say on the UConn board and such, CBSSN is lite years ahead than ESPN+. Bars have CBSSN. It's in over 50 million homes. Available to 99 million. Not really sure why many take shots at that network?

There are many misconceptions about the AAC's deal around here.. but people need to sleep better..

Here's a long podcast interview with the guy who broke the story and has the sources. Its detailed but he goes over a few things about that deal, such as:

- likely same amount of espn, espn2, espnu, and cbs games, slightly more abc… AAC just gave up espnnews, cbsports and espn3 games to espn+
- ESPN unlikely to do major deal going forward without ESPN+ likely being involved (including upcoming big 12)
- ESPN+ wasn't seen as a negative but a positive to the presidents. Its as close to a conference network as one can get, all the content is in 1 place and there will be extra content on there produced by the schools like on the SEC network (tv shows, documentaries, etc.)

https://www.blackandgoldbanneret.com/po ... -deal-espn

[ArmyVet]

UCONN administration made a comment that they are unhappy with the deal apparently because they won't be able to cash SNY checks anymore if I understood it correctly.

[GoldenWarrior11]

UCONN administration made a comment that they are unhappy with the deal apparently because they won't be able to cash SNY checks anymore if I understood it correctly.

Correct, the school, the President, the AD and Geno all have made comments in the past 24 hours stating their unhappiness with the deal. Normally, a school would never do such a thing because it is locked into a situation without options. As long as the Big East remains, UConn will always have a gambit to play in negotiations.

[adoraz]

UCONN administration made a comment that they are unhappy with the deal apparently because they won't be able to cash SNY checks anymore if I understood it correctly.

Correct, the school, the President, the AD and Geno all have made comments in the past 24 hours stating their unhappiness with the deal. Normally, a school would never do such a thing because it is locked into a situation without options. As long as the Big East remains, UConn will always have a gambit to play in negotiations.

As far as the Big East is concerned, this is all that matters. Congrats to Houston and UCF in the Tournament (I was rooting for UCF to upset Duke), but those schools have no relevance whatsoever to our conference. They are as relevant to us as Miami or Baylor. UConn is the one school that has some relevance.

[mpwalsh8]

Also, I saw many say on the UConn board and such, CBSSN is lite years ahead than ESPN+. Bars have CBSSN. It's in over 50 million homes. Available to 99 million. Not really sure why many take shots at that network?

I have CBSSN on AT&T U-Verse so watching at home isn’t an isssue. When I am traveling, I am unable to get the CBSSN games they stream because U-Verse isn’t one they validate your right to view against. No idea why it isn’t on the list like DirectTV (also part of AT&T) is. CBSSN Inside College Baksetball show is great.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

UCONN administration made a comment that they are unhappy ...

Some things never change.