Conference realignment "Rumors" "tweets" "etc"

[Mission9]

One thing for sure, Ann Richards is not around this time to ensure Baylor gets a seat at the table. 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Mission9

[bulloni]

Best case: ESPN offers to double the income on our media deals if we can get enough BIG 12 schools that Texas/OU can leave for free. The money they'd save in buyouts and earn from the SEC having those schools earlier would make paying us 15M instead of 7M a drop in a hat.

Then to try and get their moneys worth on their investment in the AAC + BIG 12 leftovers conference they incentivize SEC schools to schedule AAC schools more often so our national profile is raised a little bit.

[Peatearpan]

16 minutes ago, Rocky Style said:

I always think of road game opportunities and there is some fantastic national forest action outside of Boise.  So yes.

You had me at national forest. I recently took a trip up to the Smokies to propose to my gf, and that was some of the best scenery I have ever seen in my life.

The drive up the mountain was diarrhea inducing though.

[Bull Nut]

Aresco and the AAC are nothing more than pawns on ESPN's chess board.

[Peatearpan]

13 minutes ago, BullyPulpit said:

I think it is pretty clear what ESPN was trying to do here. They know that Texas and OU can't leave without paying significant funds. In order to leave it will cost each school about $70 million. The schools don't want to pay that. Additionally, ESPN is on the hook for the remaining years of the Big 12 contract. ESPN is trying to entice the remaining schools to leave the conference which would result in there being no Big 12 left and thus no exit fee or remaining TV contract to pay. Texas and OU would be free to go to the SEC immediately (2022) and ESPN wouldn't have to pay the remainder of the Big 12 TV deal. Win/Win for ESPN.

They are using the threat of renegotiating the Big 12 deal to a much lower number in order to try and drive those teams to consolidate in the AAC. The end game here is either one Mega Conference or two Super Conferences. The AAC is a nice rest stop for ESPN to stick the remaining teams from the Big 12 into in order to keep them quiet and content until the next conference raid/consolidation inevitably happens. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the renegotiated TV deal with the AAC would actually extend the term to around the time ESPN's deal with the ACC expires. The ACC contract is the only thing that is hindering the formation of a Mega/Super Conference at this point. 

What about the money that Fox would lose in this. Wouldn’t they be entitle to some compensation from ESPN?

1 minute ago, Bull Nut said:

Aresco and the AAC are nothing more than pawns on ESPN's chess board.

Sometimes a pawn can get lucky and take the Queen, right? (IDK, I am bad at chess)

[BullyPulpit]

1 minute ago, Peatearpan said:

What about the money that Fox would lose in this. Wouldn’t they be entitle to some compensation from ESPN?

Sometimes a pawn can get lucky and take the Queen, right? (IDK, I am bad at chess)

Fox is going to focus on keeping the B1G contract. ESPN has the assets they want. Fox and ESPN are likely in this together. Do you think Fox wants what is left of the Big 12 contract? If Texas and OU are gone, Fox is as well. 

[Bulls1181]

4 minutes ago, Peatearpan said:

You had me at national forest. I recently took a trip up to the Smokies to propose to my gf, and that was some of the best scenery I have ever seen in my life.

The drive up the mountain was diarrhea inducing though.

The smokies are the Disney World of hiking trails..   Beautiful trails! 

[bulloni]

If the Pac12 doesn't want them the Big10 definitely won't.

[Bulls1181]

2 minutes ago, BullyPulpit said:

Fox is going to focus on keeping the B1G contract. ESPN has the assets they want. Fox and ESPN are likely in this together. Do you think Fox wants what is left of the Big 12 contract? If Texas and OU are gone, Fox is as well. 

Its feeling like 1 Mega conference is coming in the long term with their own playoff/Rules etc.  

[BullyPulpit]

3 minutes ago, Bulls1181 said:

Its feeling like 1 Mega conference is coming in the long term with their own playoff/Rules etc.  

Yes, but the ACC deal prevents it from happening any time soon. The ACC did themselves a real favor, as Notre Dame is tied to their conference until 2036 and it would cost any team wanting to leave an exorbitant amount of money. ESPN has too much invested into the ACC at this point to cut bait. They will bide their time and continue to play puppet master as they see fit. I am fairly certain that by 2036 it's all over. Hopefully the next 15 years are fun. Hell, maybe we will get lucky and find a way to start winning regularly, growing the brand exponentially. The writing is on the wall though. Have one of the top 40 programs in the nation by the end of the next decade or your school will be completely left out of major college football.