🏈 News/Notes AAC's Mike Aresco pens open letter regarding P5/G5 branding

[Chris Harmon]

On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, the American Athletic Conference released an open letter by AAC commissioner Mike Aresco, addressing the Power 5 and Group of 5 branding. Here is the letter, in its entirety.

InsideTulsaSports - Aresco pens open letter on Power 5, Group of 5 branding

On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, the AAC released an open letter by commissioner Mike Aresco, regarding P5 and G5 branding.

tulsa.rivals.com

 

[drboobay]

On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, the American Athletic Conference released an open letter by AAC commissioner Mike Aresco, addressing the Power 5 and Group of 5 branding. Here is the letter, in its entirety.

InsideTulsaSports - Aresco pens open letter on Power 5, Group of 5 branding

On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, the AAC released an open letter by commissioner Mike Aresco, regarding P5 and G5 branding.

tulsa.rivals.com

Of course I agree 100% but, as before, I expect it to be ignored.

 

[goldenhurricane2]

Well the p6 narrative went away since we lost the better programs in the conference… can’t really argue p6 anymore unfortunately. While I still think we’re on par with the MWC in most regards, we still make more than any other g5 league.

Sometimes I wonder how things would look in law makers got involved and instituted regional conferences…. Obviously that’s a pipe dream, but it would just be nice to be respected as a program, have folks in and around Tulsa view us as more than an afterthought (compared to ou or osu), and ultimately build a program playing teams folks around here cared about seeing us play.

 

[chito_and_leon]

On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, the American Athletic Conference released an open letter by AAC commissioner Mike Aresco, addressing the Power 5 and Group of 5 branding. Here is the letter, in its entirety.

InsideTulsaSports - Aresco pens open letter on Power 5, Group of 5 branding

On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, the AAC released an open letter by commissioner Mike Aresco, regarding P5 and G5 branding.

tulsa.rivals.com

I honestly haven't followed this all that carefully but my completely uneducated opinion is that Aresco has been a pretty big disappointment as commissioner. He was going to bring big TV $$ with his background in programming but has he had any big achievements?

 

[goldenhurricane2]

I honestly haven't followed this all that carefully but my completely uneducated opinion is that Aresco has been a pretty big disappointment as commissioner. He was going to bring big TV $$ with his background in programming but has he had any big achievements?

He wanted to have us included with the big boys, but that never quite caught on… then it was moot after ucf, Houston, Cincinnati got a golden ticket.

As far as money goes. He did get us more than any other peer league. About $2.5m per year more ($7m) than the MWC. Which is all peanuts in the grand scheme of things compared to $60m-$80m the power conferences pull per team.

 

[drboobay]

He wanted to have us included with the big boys, but that never quite caught on… then it was moot after ucf, Houston, Cincinnati got a golden ticket.

As far as money goes. He did get us more than any other peer league. About $2.5m per year more ($7m) than the MWC. Which is all peanuts in the grand scheme of things compared to $60m-$80m the power conferences pull per team.

He done OK. I give a B.

 

[goldenhurricane2]

He done OK. I give a B.

That’s fair

 

[Gmoney4WW]

He wanted to have us included with the big boys, but that never quite caught on… then it was moot after ucf, Houston, Cincinnati got a golden ticket.

As far as money goes. He did get us more than any other peer league. About $2.5m per year more ($7m) than the MWC. Which is all peanuts in the grand scheme of things compared to $60m-$80m the power conferences pull per team.

At least he kept us on the top of the bottom of the heap. I'd say, considering the circumstances he had to work with, he did the best he could have. I don't see how anybody could have done much better.

 

[noble cane]

Well the p6 narrative went away since we lost the better programs in the conference… can’t really argue p6 anymore unfortunately. While I still think we’re on par with the MWC in most regards, we still make more than any other g5 league.

Sometimes I wonder how things would look in law makers got involved and instituted regional conferences…. Obviously that’s a pipe dream, but it would just be nice to be respected as a program, have folks in and around Tulsa view us as more than an afterthought (compared to ou or osu), and ultimately build a program playing teams folks around here cared about seeing us play.

Lawmakers care about votes. Gettin an OK lawmaker to give a flying f#$k about TU in comparison to the votes available via the state degree factories and their bandwagons would be a biblical feat worthy of Moses himself...

 

[HuffyCane]

I honestly haven't followed this all that carefully but my completely uneducated opinion is that Aresco has been a pretty big disappointment as commissioner. He was going to bring big TV $$ with his background in programming but has he had any big achievements?

He’s essentially been an ESPN executive imbedded into a conference commish role. And that’s fine. Revenue is holding steady and that’s a feat when the current method of gauging value is moving away from how many cable boxes can you tax to what is your perceived brand value and how does that drive ratings for playoff hype. We lost some prestige with UC and Houston and didn’t lose a dime. I dont think that happens without him. He’s pretty well connected in the places that matter. Now you could say the deal holding steady is undervalued and too long and he actually worked against us while working for us. UCF would/did say that, but for a school like Tulsa in the middle of the country with our current level of commitment, it’s a gold mine and he’s an A.

 

[chito_and_leon]

He’s essentially been an ESPN executive imbedded into a conference commish role. And that’s fine. Revenue is holding steady and that’s a feat when the current method of gauging value is moving away from how many cable boxes can you tax to what is your perceived brand value and how does that drive ratings for playoff hype. We lost some prestige with UC and Houston and didn’t lose a dime. I dont think that happens without him. He’s pretty well connected in the places that matter. Now you could say the deal holding steady is undervalued and too long and he actually worked against us while working for us. UCF would/did say that, but for a school like Tulsa in the middle of the country with our current level of commitment, it’s a gold mine and he’s an A.

I think his #1 job was to help the conference become stronger and that hasn't worked out. I guess he got half of CUSA rather than CUSA getting half of the AAC, if that's winning.

 

[goldenhurricane2]

I think his #1 job was to help the conference become stronger and that hasn't worked out. I guess he got half of CUSA rather than CUSA getting half of the AAC, if that's winning.

In a way he did… he strengthened it so much that teams got plucked. Since college athletics is only about money at this point, it’s hard to keep high performing programs when other conferences come in and say “hey we’ll pay you $40m more than you’re making now to come play better competition, have better exposure, and be considered by all in much higher regard” - we just don’t have much to compete with those types of offers.

 

[chito_and_leon]

In a way he did… he strengthened it so much that teams got plucked. Since college athletics is only about money at this point, it’s hard to keep high performing programs when other conferences come in and say “hey we’ll pay you $40m more than you’re making now to come play better competition, have better exposure, and be considered by all in much higher regard” - we just don’t have much to compete with those types of offers.

Yeah, that's true. Great foreplay, no finish. For the reasons you've described, we knew if there was a chance to make the conference better - or worse - it was part of a major shift in the top conferences. He took his shot and it didn't work out. Remember these glory days? The lure of the schools that left was the bait that would give us our chance to bring in the leftovers from a dying bigger conference. That's pretty much an impossibility now.

Report: AAC attempting to take all eight remaining Big 12 members

 

[goldenhurricane2]

Yeah, that's true. Great foreplay, no finish. For the reasons you've described, we knew if there was a chance to make the conference better - or worse - it was part of a major shift in the top conferences. He took his shot and it didn't work out. Remember these glory days? The lure of the schools that left was the bait that would give us our chance to bring in the leftovers from a dying bigger conference. That's pretty much an impossibility now.

Report: AAC attempting to take all eight remaining Big 12 members

What could have been…

 

[HuffyCane]

I think his #1 job was to help the conference become stronger and that hasn't worked out. I guess he got half of CUSA rather than CUSA getting half of the AAC, if that's winning.

He made sure ESPN didn’t lose money on the existing deal. And his members were assured they would be paid as planned. No more. No less. The kind of thing you put up a banner that says “Mission Accomplished”? We shall see.

 

[chito_and_leon]

What could have been…

Amen brother! This was obviously always unlikely and the thing that killed any chance was less Aresco and more the shocking arrogance and incompetence of the Pac12. The only realistic path I think was for the P12 to take 2 or 3 of the remaining B12 schools, leaving the other 5 or 6 in a conference that wasn't viable anymore, and then for Aresco to work his magic to get more $$ for the AAC plus 5/6 B12 leftovers rather than the leftover B12 schools plus 5 AAC schools. But the P12 didn't hold up their end of the bargain, and then were so amazingly terrible that they actually made the B12 look good. That was the end of that.