American Athletic Conference

[charsibb]

 

http://www.aacsports.com/

 

I wonder if the AAC legal eagles did the due diligence and made sure that they were not infringing upon an existing acronym first.

 

Wonder how long before the Appalachian Athletic Conference will sue the American Athletic Conference?

Shirley you must be joking ....

 

I'm not joking. And don't call me Shirley.

 

But can I call you Bubba?

[Quo Vadis]

 

 

 

To everyone against the name, what exactly is the big deal? Is our team going to perform worse because we're in a conference with a bland name? Is South East or Atlantic Coast really that much more exciting of a name?

 

Perception. We live in a media driven society, and sports more than anything else is tapped into that media. Just look at how ESPiN's fingerprints are on realignment. And in this media saturated culture, branding matters.  It has nothing to do directly with on field performance; it has to do with popularity and converting that popularity into $$$ (which may indirectly affect the product on the field in the future).

Look at the Rays. The re-branded themselves.  Or the B1G.

That's why I think its a big deal; I think its weak in terms of a brand.

 

I get all that, but there's more to branding than a name.  Regardless of the name, this is now a brand new conference, and it's going to be seen as such.

 

The perception (and reality) is that we are now in a conference full of teams that no one else wanted.  I'm hard-pressed to think of a name that would do anything to overcome that perception, and almost every name I've heard suggested by fans has been in jest.

 

In my opinion, I'd dislike any name that has a number or a geographical region, because they limit what you can do as far as expansion.  I'd also dislike any name that sounds too grandiose (e.g. "Big" anything), because that just invites derision.  I think you just put a solid name on it, and go about trying to change the perception on the field.

Good point about our perception issue. Nothing about our new name can change the "island of misfit toys" perception, that can only be changed on the field over a period of time.

 

Agree about a number in the name being undesirable, but not  completely about geographical region. The PAC and SEC have done just fine with that characteristic. In our case a geographical designation is undesirable because we really don't have one, but in general it's not a bad thing.

 

 

The PAC (1915) and SEC (1932),  with some members from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1894), were formed way before gigantic TV deals and airplanes screwed up traditional regional rivalries. The widespread use of air travel means that rivalries don't need to be within driving distance any longer hence the use of geography in the name is no longer needed.

If airplanes have obviated the need for rivalries to be within driving distance, why are almost all the major rivalries within driving distance? Sure, Notre Dame-USC isn't, but it's famous for being the only real "intersectional" rivalry, the exception that proves the rule across football and basketball:

 

Ohio State-Michigan

Army-Navy

Pitt-WVU

Florida-Georgia

Florida-FSU

FSU-Miami

Auburn-Alabama

USC-UCLA

USCe-Clemson

Duke-North Carolina

Syracuse-Georgetown

Texas-Texas AM

 

... and on and on. Distance seems to be a HUGE factor in rivalry formation, probably because a short distance means lots of daily elbow-rubbing between alumni in an area and thus constant competition for jobs, recruits, funding, prestige, local bragging rights, etc.

 

Now true, you can note that all of these rivalries, with the exception of FSU-Miami, developed before air travel. But,  name an important rivalry that is a product of air travel, a big rivalry consisting of teams that couldn't meet until air came along? I can't think of one. And why, when it comes to our Bulls, is UCF mentioned most often as the school we're likely to develop a big rivalry with?

 

All of that said, I do agree that a geographical reference  in the conference name isn't necessary for conference success. The Big 10 attests to that. But, it does seem that the most successful conferences are those characterized by a high level of geographic cohesion, regardless of what the name says. E.g., note that for conferences like the SEC and B1G, there is no "island hopping", every state that has a school borders on another state that has a school.

 

Heck, even with their recent expansion, in the SEC,  only two states don't border at least two other SEC states, and those states are not Missouri and Texas.

Edited April 9, 2013 by BatonRougeBull87

[Cow Pie]

http://www.aacsports.com/

 

I wonder if the AAC legal eagles did the due diligence and made sure that they were not infringing upon an existing acronym first.

 

Wonder how long before the Appalachian Athletic Conference will sue the American Athletic Conference?

Shirley you must be joking ....

 

Nope, not joking...

 

Plenty of organizations have sued other organizations for infringing upon their acronym. The most well known instance was the big decade long legal battle over the acronym WWF.

 

If the REAL AAC gets pissed enough or figures out that they could get a few million in free money from the new AAC, then they will sue.

[Quo Vadis]

 

http://www.aacsports.com/

 

I wonder if the AAC legal eagles did the due diligence and made sure that they were not infringing upon an existing acronym first.

 

Wonder how long before the Appalachian Athletic Conference will sue the American Athletic Conference?

Shirley you must be joking ....

 

Nope, not joking...

 

Plenty of organizations have sued other organizations for infringing upon their acronym. The most well known instance was the big decade long legal battle over the acronym WWF.

 

If the REAL AAC gets pissed enough or figures out that they could get a few million in free money from the new AAC, then they will sue.

Sounds like they've expressed their minor ire at having to share AAC, are happy with the 5 seconds of media coverage it got them, and have moved on. Probably because it would be extremely difficult for the "Appalachian" to show any damages worth an attorney's time, and because the "American" is a pretty dry turnip to try and squeeze money out of anyway.

[charsibb]

 

 

http://www.aacsports.com/

 

I wonder if the AAC legal eagles did the due diligence and made sure that they were not infringing upon an existing acronym first.

 

Wonder how long before the Appalachian Athletic Conference will sue the American Athletic Conference?

Shirley you must be joking ....

 

Nope, not joking...

 

Plenty of organizations have sued other organizations for infringing upon their acronym. The most well known instance was the big decade long legal battle over the acronym WWF.

 

If the REAL AAC gets pissed enough or figures out that they could get a few million in free money from the new AAC, then they will sue.

Sounds like they've expressed their minor ire at having to share AAC, are happy with the 5 seconds of media coverage it got them, and have moved on. Probably because it would be extremely difficult for the "Appalachian" to show any damages worth an attorney's time, and because the "American" is a pretty dry turnip to try and squeeze money out of anyway.

 

Dry turnip?

 

There's upwards of $100m in the kitty right now. We're hoping to get about $30 of it ourselves, and the new schools are pushing hard to get more than the token $1m each we've offered...

[Triple B]

http://www.aacsports.com/

 

I wonder if the AAC legal eagles did the due diligence and made sure that they were not infringing upon an existing acronym first.

 

Wonder how long before the Appalachian Athletic Conference will sue the American Athletic Conference?

Shirley you must be joking ....

 

Nope, not joking...

 

Plenty of organizations have sued other organizations for infringing upon their acronym. The most well known instance was the big decade long legal battle over the acronym WWF.

 

If the REAL AAC gets pissed enough or figures out that they could get a few million in free money from the new AAC, then they will sue.

Considering most people, even college football fans, would associate "aac" more with recorded music than some obscure athletic conference, I highly doubt there would be miilions at stake ...

[charsibb]

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/43428/your-vote-neutral-on-new-aac-name

 

So now that the league formerly known as the Big East shall forevermore be called the American Athletic Conference, we asked you to weigh in on the new name.

With nearly 100,000 votes in our SportsNation poll, 39 percent of you responded: Meh. Neither like it nor dislike it. I would have voted for that choice as well. As I explained in the mailbag last Friday, I thought it was an uninspiring choice but it is way, way better than America 12. Clearly this is a league that embraces 'Merica, given the first name floated out, the name that was eventually chosen and the comments from commish Mike Aresco -- who would like the league to be referred to as "The American" as a shorter moniker.

Here is a look at how the other choices fared:

Dislike it: 20 percent

Like it: 19 percent

Hate it: 17 percent

Love it: 5 percent

So after typing these numbers into my calculator, more respondents dislike/hate the name compared to those who like it/love it. You see why it is so crucially important for the AAC to get its rebranding efforts underway ASAP. Now, to a few of your comments.

Margaret in Amelia, Ohio, writes: Hey Andrea, Who cares what the name of the new conference is!! Get a new name and move on. Though a suggestion I would have given for the new name would have been "Galaxy Quest", it would have fit .......big job ahead and no real direction where this conference is going or what it's leaders know about planning! Anyway now maybe the talk will calm down and we can talk about FOOTBALL now!

Margaret, I spent many, many an hour watching, "Galaxy Quest." I used to own it on VHS tape. No joke!

Chuck in Kentucky writes: I don't get the haters bagging on the new AAC conference name. The Andrea Adelson conference has a nice ring to it.

Chuck, bestill my beating heart you know just how to get yourself some love.

Ronnie in Memphis, Tenn., writes: I like the new conference name fine, but prefer the "AAC" acronym to "American." I predict (and hope) that in time, "AAC" will be commonly used by the media and general public. If the ACC doesn't like it, that's tough. Thanks for your coverage - good work.

Ronnie, I still worry about folks calling it the "ACK" for short. Mabye I'm the only one.

[Triple B]

Chuck in Kentucky writes: I don't get the haters bagging on the new AAC conference name. The Andrea Adelson conference has a nice ring to it.

Chuck, bestill my beating heart you know just how to get yourself some love.

Burning question now is does she go with the Catholics or stay with the rejects?

[Quo Vadis]

 

 

 

http://www.aacsports.com/

 

I wonder if the AAC legal eagles did the due diligence and made sure that they were not infringing upon an existing acronym first.

 

Wonder how long before the Appalachian Athletic Conference will sue the American Athletic Conference?

Shirley you must be joking ....

 

Nope, not joking...

 

Plenty of organizations have sued other organizations for infringing upon their acronym. The most well known instance was the big decade long legal battle over the acronym WWF.

 

If the REAL AAC gets pissed enough or figures out that they could get a few million in free money from the new AAC, then they will sue.

Sounds like they've expressed their minor ire at having to share AAC, are happy with the 5 seconds of media coverage it got them, and have moved on. Probably because it would be extremely difficult for the "Appalachian" to show any damages worth an attorney's time, and because the "American" is a pretty dry turnip to try and squeeze money out of anyway.

 

Dry turnip?

 

There's upwards of $100m in the kitty right now. We're hoping to get about $30 of it ourselves, and the new schools are pushing hard to get more than the token $1m each we've offered...

That's legacy money from the old Big East. Hard to see how any of that would be at stake in an AAC lawsuit.