CONFERENCE USA: NEXT TV CONTRACT MOST IMPORTANT IN ITS PROUD HISTORY

CONFERENCE USA COMMISSIONER BRITTON BANOWSKY

G5 Original Content

THE NEW CONFERENCE USA

With the news this week that the Power 5 Conferences officially voted to allow its schools to pay their student athletes the so called "full cost of attendance scholarships"(Full Cost of Attendance Vote link) Conference USA found itself in an even more  challenging and difficult position as they engage in contract talks for a  new TV deal.( The current tv deal runs out in 2016 and is split between Fox, CBS and the American Sports Network for a reported 14 million annually) . Challenging and difficult because Conference USA is the first G5 conference needing to sign a new tv deal in the midst of the G5 vs P5 era of college football. Conference USA, and it's Commissioner Britton Banowsky are forging unknown territory in the midst of the biggest shake up in college football in 20 years. Complicating the search for a new tv deal  however, is that unlike in previous  years when the conference had basketball anchor Memphis and football brands  ECU, UCF, Tulsa and Houston to sell the league, Conference USA will now have to convince the tv sports world that schools like Marshall, La Tech, UTEP,  Rice , ODU and the others are as viable and marketable as the top schools that have bolted for the American Athletic Conference in the last two years.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE NEW CONTRACT

This is where the wild speculation can begin. There are however, some clues that point to a reduced contract amount and rocky road for the 14 schools that make up the new Conference USA. Here are 3 of those clues:

CLUE 1: CONFERENCE USA LOST ITS MOST MARKETABLE TEAMS: When Mike Aresco went looking for replacements for the now defunct Big East, (now the American Athletic Conference) he needed schools that met 3 important tv criteria: 1 brand recognition 2. competitiveness and 3. over all market viability. Aresco , a  former tv sports executive who at one point in his career was in charge of signing conference contracts for ESPN, used his best judgment and picked schools from Conference USA that meet the 3 point tv criteria the best.( according to Aresco at least)

Even after taking what he considered to be the best of Conference USA,  the American Conference was still only able to sign a tv contract with ESPN worth 2million a year. Certainly nothing to get excited about or certainly enough money to hang with the big boys in College Football. Aresco did however, procure the best exposure deal in all of the G5. Something that should pay dividends for the American in the future.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CONFERENCE USA: You do not need have an MBA to read the tea leaves on this one. If Aresco, who is an expert in sports tv contracts, picked what he considered to be the best of Conference USA, and after doing so still only inked a deal for 2 million a year per team, then things may not be looking very good for Conference USA . The chances for an increase in the current 14 million a year for Conference USA are slim at best based on this data alone.

CLUE 2: TV NETWORKS ARE WATCHING THE G5 VS P5 SPLIT CLOSELY: With the new G5 vs P5 culture now in full swing, it can be argued that the appetite for tv networks in souring on the G5 football product. Like it or not, college football fans are the most brand conscience and arrogant in the sports world. If you are a SEC fan for example, do you even know that there are 4 other Power conferences in existence, let alone 5 non power conferences in the world. TV people pay attention to trends and market data. Just how many football fans want to watch North Texas play Western Kentucky in football? Can Fox Sports for example ,make more money from a  Conference USA Saturday football afternoon match up, or a blood splattering, testosterone inducing UCF match up? 

How about NBC? NBC sports bid for the rights to the American Conference only to lose the bid to ESPN. Why did NBC lose? They lost or won(depending on who you ask) because they did not want to pay more than 2 million per team for what the American had to offer. NBC was not willing to pay more for the likes of UConn basketball and a decent AAC football lineup. Instead, NBC decided that its current sports lineup and  its big investment  in the English  Premier League Soccer(football everywhere else) was enough. 

All of this may spell bad news for Conference USA  This is not to say that Conference USA is without compelling match ups. Marshall and La Tech certainly proved this season that Conference USA teams could play some serious football . A hand full of  good football teams and a below average basketball league however, do not create compelling sports. Conference USA needs to beef up its basketball and some how shake the stigma that it's football is not very good before the conference can hope for a large increase in its current tv revenue.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CONFERENCE USA: The new G5/P5 divide  could spell big trouble for Conference USA. The conference, given time, could become a competitive league( it proved that it could this year) The big question however, is will the tv networks want to invest the time and money needed for the conference to grow?

CLUE 3: ESPN IS THE GODFATHER OF SPORTS AND THE GODFATHER MAY NOT BE PLEASED WITH CONFERENCE USA: In 2011 ESPN and Conference USA settled a law suit in which ESPN claimed Conference USA ditched its tv contract agreement with them. As a result, Fox Sports won the right to broadcast most of the  Conference USA games  leaving ESPN with only the Conference USA Title Game.(the ESPN title game ends in 2015) Conference USA gambled that Fox Sports would soon rival ESPN and put most of its proverbial eggs in the Fox basket. In hindsight, this was as bad as betting the house on the  XFL( a horrible league pro football league that folded almost as quickly as it started) vs the NFL. In short, Conference USA rolled the dice and made a mistake in not keeping ESPN as its money maker. Now ESPN is even stronger, more powerful and most importantly in a position to make or break College Conferences. Conference USA challenged the bull, and the bull won.

Now instead of having the full weight of ESPN behind it, even it meant playing week night games, ESPN seems to have chosen the AAC as its most important G5 portfolio product.  Does ESPN have room for Conference USA to come back? Of course it does , but Conference USA would most likely be stuck with a majority of its games on ESPN 3, and on Tuesday and Wed nights. This strategy has worked for the MAC, it remains to be seen however, if it would work for Conference USA.( ESPN's cheap gamble on the AAC seems to be paying off, as the highest rated bowl games among the G5 belonged to the AAC)

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CONFERENCE USA: Unfortunately the one network that could provide long term stability to Conference USA seems to have no interest in the conference at the moment. With its current  contacts with the MAC, the AAC, the SunBelt and The MWC, it seems unlikely that Conference USA would benefit financially or from the limited exposure ESPN would be willing to give the conference in a new tv deal.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There is no question that Conference USA faces a more difficult and uphill battle this time around as it looks for tv partners. With the college football landscape having dramatically changed  as well as the current  Conference USA lineup being very different from  the last time the conference signed a tv deal , things will certainly get interesting going forward. With a decreasing value for all things G5, the tv future looks very uncertain for Conference USA at the moment  If the conference has anything going for it however, it's that Britton Banowsky has proven over the years to be a shrewd negotiator  with the ability to pull rabbits out of the hat from time to time.

The good news for  Conference USA is that its brand still  carries more weight than the Sun Belt and is equal to the  MAC perception. With schools  like Marshall, La Tech, Rice Western Kentucky, and  UTEP, there certainly is a core worth building upon. The big question however, is how much money and time will Fox, CBS, NBC and ESPN be willing to commit in growing the Conference USA brand? If one of the big 4 does make a viable financial investment in the league, both the conference and the network could be rewarded nicely for it. On the other hand, it remains to be seen if  Conference USA has finally lost  its mojo during the last of  its varied and frequent realignment rebirths. 

Conference USA has built a reputation as a solid  and never say die conference. The conference seems to have 9 lives and the schools that received the most recent invites appear to be  very proud of being part of the Conference USA family. All though many clues point to a decrease in market value and tv revenue, Britton and his teams may prove more resilient than is expected of them.  Stay tuned for more on the Conference USA tv contract saga, including more  financial and tv network predictions from this blog.

G5 AWARDS 2014

Now that the 2014 College Football Season is almost finished, it is time for the first annual G5 News and Issues G5 AWARDS:


MOST OVER PERFORMING G5 

This award goes to......C USA. We ranked CUSA as the worst G5  at the start of this years football season, boy were we wrong. (Conference USA ranking) The league was lead by a very strong Marshall team. In addition to Marshall however,  La Tech , Rice and Western Kentucky proved that they could compete and compete well on the gridiron. Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky can breath a small sigh of relief this off season,  as the newest incarnation of  C USA seems to be working.


MOST UNDERPERFORMING G5 

The award goes to.....the AMERICAN ATHLETIC . The AAC spent its first official year as a G5 searching  for an identity. Hopes and expectations were high, maybe to high this season, as the conference was  coming off a great win by UCF in last years Fiesta Bowl. Mike Aresco the American  Commish, has to have some heartburn, when after taking the best of CUSA last year, still did not manage to get the G5 Access spot. With the best tv contract among the G5 and with very  good basketball in the conference , the AAC should begin seeing its  national coverage and  branding pay off in terms of recruiting and winning.  This however, did not help the underperforming league this year compete when it mattered the most.


MOST,  THINGS DON'T LOOK AS GOOD AS WE THOUGHT THEY DID AT THE START OF THE SEASON AWARD

This award goes to....the SUN BELT .  Okay, okay, maybe we are being to hard on the SUNBELT. Or,, um,maybe we are mad at them because we ranked them as the 3rd best G5  at the start of the year. A ranking that  they clearly did not deserve and one in which we were clearly out of my minds for doing so. Look, we like the Sun Belt, we really do. When however, La Tech made a good ULL team look like the JV ,  you could just feel see the sweat coming from Sun Belt Commish's Karl Benson's forehead. Better luck next year.


MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER TO THE TEAM AWARD

This award goes to....MARSHALL'S RAKEEM CATO. Every decade or so there emerges a football player that is so powerful a force that they have the ability to transform a team into a winner almost entirely by themselves. Cato is that player for Marshall. Cato is simply a winner. It is hard not to cheer for this guy. Marshall will not be able to replace Cato next year, no team could. Cato leaving Marshall however, is not just a bummer for them, it is also a bummer for College Football.



MOST, THESE GUYS ARE DESTINED FOR THE ACCESS BOWL AND GREATNESS ONLY TO  STUMBLE AND CAUSE HEARTBREAK AMONG THEIR FAN BASE AWARD

This award goes to.... the East Carolina Pirates. Look, the Pirates have a great program, and have arguably the best fan base among the G5. We gushed about ECU at the start of the season like silly school girls(ECU Football) We were wrong. Yes the Pirate have a history of winning big games, but they also have a history  losing to teams that they should easily beat. After a great win against Va Tech and then   beating UNC to an embarrassing pulp, ECU went on to lose  a head scratcher to Temple. They also dropped games to Cincinnati and UCF on questionable coaching calls. Either way, Pirate fans experienced the  joy of victory and the agony of defeat like few others in the G5.


IT TAKES A LICKING BUT KEEPS ON TICKING AWARD

This award goes to.....Boise State. Raise your hand if you thought that Boise State would end up as the Access Bowl rep. Unless you are a Boise State fan and you  raised your hand you are lying.( Okay Boise State fans , you can put your hands down now and wipe that smug look off of your face) Boise simply did what it has done for a long time now. It won the games that it needed to win. Boise has winning in their DNA. We wrote off Boise State this year( see article:Boise State and the Access Bowl). Big mistake on our part. Boise State equals Ballers. Enough said.



COMEBACK COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award goes to .... La Tech's Skip Holtz. Skip not only  officially resurrected his career this year, he also had the La Tech Bulldogs looking very good this season. I have always believed Skip could coach ( see article for shameless pat on the back from this writer predicting a La Tech turnaround:Holtz turn around prospect high) and this year proved it all over again. Skip, who won two Conference USA champions with ECU, seems to have discovered the winning formula for  Conference USA. Welcome back Coach Holtz, you have made the La Tech fan base happy campers.

COACH OF THE YEAR

This award goes to....Memphis Head Coach Justin Fuente. Coach Fuente has Memphis looking good and winning football games. Fuente has turned Memphis into one of the best G5 programs. An accomplishment that seemed nearly impossible just a few short years ago.  Need we say more?



G5 CONFERENCE OF THE YEAR

This award goes to the... Mountain West. We picked this league to finish second(Conference Rankings) IF your conference produces the Access Bowl representative, you are doing something right and are the envy of the other G5.

BEST NEW COMER OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award goes to....The Georgia Southern Eagles. The Eagles entered their first year of FBS football with a bang. The Eagles beat SEC powerhouse Florida and came close to knocking off NC State and Ga Tech as well. G5 Conference News and Issues has been high on Georgia Southern all year(Shameless Ga Southern Plug) The Eagles have put the Sun Belt on notice: They are here to win championships.

MOST DISAPPOINTING TEAM AWARD

This award goes to... The UL Ragin Cajuns. G5 Sports and News gushed about the potential of UL at the start of the season. We predicted them to easily win the Sun Belt and perhaps even be a dark horse candidate for the Access Bowl (UL ACCESS BOWL CONTENDERS) Of course neither of these two predications materialized. So what happened?...Um ,we have no idea. UL clearly had the talent to win and win big this year( We are not counting their victory in the New Orleans bowl this year as a swag win, sorry UL fans) UL fans now have a long season to reflect on what could have been. We still, however,  like the UL program and think they can be a dominant force in the Sun Belt for years to come.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE AWARDS WE GAVE THIS YEAR. WHAT OTHER AWARDS WOULD YOU HAVE GIVEN OUT THIS SEASON?