Arena TIF declines in 2018...
- By zipp
- Forum: Louisville Men’s Basketball
- 4 Replies
The LAA posted their 2018 financial report this week. For the first time since the arena opened, the TIF revenue stream declined year over year. I had previously remarked that the TIF was one bright spot with arena finances. But that conclusion now appears to have been premature.
In 2016, I forecast where the TIF was headed based on the high rate of annual growth during the first 5+ years of operation. That forecast was revised after the 2017 number was posted. The 2018 result, however, makes that forecasting effort more difficult since the trend is less clear.
One thing that is clear is optimism based on growth in economic activity downtown is not being validated by the TIF number, at least not at the moment. The actual number is now $3-1/2 million lower than the forecast just two years ago. Keep in mind that performance, good or bad, is reflected in successive years' numbers. When your momentum declines, you have to make up that difference the following year and then some.
I haven't gone over the full annual report in detail yet, and there are some balance sheet items that are hard to explain on first glance. When I have more to comment, I'll add to this thread or start a new one. Here's the LAA website containing that report if anyone wants to read it now. Look for it under the link to "Financials and Meeting Minutes."
LINK
In 2016, I forecast where the TIF was headed based on the high rate of annual growth during the first 5+ years of operation. That forecast was revised after the 2017 number was posted. The 2018 result, however, makes that forecasting effort more difficult since the trend is less clear.
One thing that is clear is optimism based on growth in economic activity downtown is not being validated by the TIF number, at least not at the moment. The actual number is now $3-1/2 million lower than the forecast just two years ago. Keep in mind that performance, good or bad, is reflected in successive years' numbers. When your momentum declines, you have to make up that difference the following year and then some.
I haven't gone over the full annual report in detail yet, and there are some balance sheet items that are hard to explain on first glance. When I have more to comment, I'll add to this thread or start a new one. Here's the LAA website containing that report if anyone wants to read it now. Look for it under the link to "Financials and Meeting Minutes."
LINK
Happy Anniversary Dr. Bendapudi!
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- 7 Replies
Wow. It's hard to believe that is already been one year since President Neeli Bendapudi became leader of our University.
Under her leadership, our students, alumni, faculty and staff have united behind her vision to make the University a great place to learn, work and invest.
Happy Anniversary Dr. Bendapudi!
Under her leadership, our students, alumni, faculty and staff have united behind her vision to make the University a great place to learn, work and invest.
Happy Anniversary Dr. Bendapudi!
Aloha...
- By zipp
- Forum: Louisville Men’s Basketball
- 20 Replies
Six time zones away for the next two weeks, so there are really gonna be some interesting time stamps on my posts.
But vacation only has a minor impact. No reason to be knocking back bourbon, gazing at the Pacific, and nothing else.
Keep me informed...
But vacation only has a minor impact. No reason to be knocking back bourbon, gazing at the Pacific, and nothing else.
Keep me informed...
AAC commissioner Mike Aresco addresses perceived ‘misconceptions’ about new ESPN TV deal
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AAC commissioner Mike Aresco addresses perceived ‘misconceptions’ about new ESPN TV deal, discusses UConn-SNY deal
By ALEX PUTTERMAN
MAY 06, 2019 | 6:00 AM
American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco was in Hartford on Wednesday discussing a number of topics. (Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant)
From the moment the American Athletic Conference announced its new TV deal with ESPN in late March, the agreement drew skepticism — from fans and media in many AAC markets but particularly from those in Connecticut.
In the weeks following the announcement, UConn partisans (including athletic director David Benedict) criticized the deal for dumping too many games on the subscription-based digital platform ESPN+, for failing to cure UConn's financial problems, for tasking schools with broadcast production, and for leaving the future of the Huskies' relationship with SNY uncertain.
With that criticism in mind, AAC commissioner Mike Aresco volunteered to clear up what he viewed as "misconceptions" about the deal. In a 45-minute phone conversation last week, Aresco addressed ESPN+, the AAC's position in the college sports landscape, the logistics of TV production and more. Here are the highlights:
On what games will air on ESPN+:
Aresco said fans and media are mistaken to believe that the AAC's best games will be moving behind a paywall. In fact, he pointed out, the new deal will result in more of the conference's football and basketball games appearing on ESPN's "primary networks" (ABC, ESPN and ESPN2), as well as more appearing on ESPNU.
UConn women's basketball in particular could get a boost in ESPN airtime, he said.
"UConn can be on 10 times out of 13 appearance [the conference] is going to have for the women," Aresco said. "The guarantee we had in 2018-19 was four. This is a significant presence for UConn women's basketball. They may have as many games on ESPN major platforms as some of the major men's teams around the country."
On the UConn-SNY relationship:
Of course, many UConn fans don't care too much which television channel a game airs on, as long as it airs on a television channel. So a few more Huskies women's basketball games on ESPN2 likely won't mean much if that means losing more than a dozen SNY broadcasts.
When Benedict expressed his displeasure at the deal on the day it was announced, he specifically cited the risk to UConn's relationship with SNY.
Aresco pointed out that whereas SNY is available primarily in the tri-state area, ESPN+ can be accessed anywhere. But he also said he would happily bless an agreement between ESPN and SNY that would keep UConn games on the latter network.
"I'm not in any way minimizing the impact of SNY or it's importance to UConn," Aresco said. "But ESPN hasn't ruled out yet doing something with SNY. So let's see how that plays out."
ESPN executive Burke Magnus said recently that ESPN remains open to a deal with SNY.
On how the AAC’s deal compares to major-conference agreements:
For several years, Aresco has described the AAC as a "Power 6" conference, in opposition to the widely accepted "Power 5" framework, which excludes it from the ranks of the top leagues.
Depending on your perspective, the AAC's new deal (which is worth a reported $1 billion over 12 years) could be evidence that the conference is nearing "P5" status or that it remains quite far away. Aresco argued that the agreement establishes the AAC as the undisputed sixth best athletic conference and that it's arbitrary to draw a line between the top leagues and everyone else.
"The Pac-12 doesn't earn anywhere near what the Big Ten and the SEC are earning," Aresco said. "That doesn't mean that the Pac-12 isn't still viewed as a P5 conference. And so OK, there is a separation between us and the Pac-12 [which signed a $3 billion deal with ESPN and Fox in 2011], but we're getting closer. And you don't have to have the same amount of revenue to be considered part of that group."
Each AAC school will receive about $7 million under the terms of the conference's new TV agreement, and Aresco said annual per-school payouts will surpass $10 million. Both of those figures are up slightly from before the recent deal with ESPN.
East Hartford, CT 11/10/18 Connecticut Huskies running back Kevin Mensah (34) high-steps out of the grasp of two SMU defenders at Rentschler Field in East Hartford Saturday. UConn lost 62-50. Photo by John Woike | jwoike@courant.com (John Woike / Hartford Courant)
On comparisons between the AAC and the old Big East:
Aresco has led the conference since 2012, when it was still called the Big East, and has heard all sorts of comparisons between how things are now and how they used to be.
His advice for UConn fans holding the current AAC up against the old Big East and lamenting the drop in revenue, rivalries and prestige: It's time to move on.
"First of all, I want to be sensitive to those opinions, and I do understand those comparisons," he said. "But I do think at some point, in life and everything, you have to move on and you have to accept what you have, and you have to see the possibilities inherent in what you have."
On in-house production of ESPN+ sporting events:
One quirk of the ESPN-AAC deal is that the conference and its schools will be responsible for production of all games on ESPN+, beginning in 2020-21.
Aresco said the conference will hire a company to produce football games and league championships but that production for other games will likely fall to the schools. He said all events will be produced "economically" without sacrificing quality.
"They will be produced to a certain standard that we are working out with ESPN," he said. "Rest assured that ESPN will be happy with the standard of production."
Aresco said some schools could use students to aid in production.
On the idea that UConn could abandon FBS football:
As UConn's football program has struggled in terms of not only wins and losses but also dollars and cents, more and more observers have begun to wonder whether the school should leave the sport's top level. The Huskies could either drop back to the FCS ranks or ditch football altogether.
Unsurprisingly, Aresco is not a fan of the idea.
"I think that would be deleterious to UConn to give it up," he said. "They are a major state university. They have had a tremendous history in collegiate athletics. They need to be competitive in football, and they need to keep football at the FBS level."
If UConn dumped FBS football, he said, "it would diminish their overall appeal, in my view."
Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@courant.com.
By ALEX PUTTERMAN
MAY 06, 2019 | 6:00 AM
American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco was in Hartford on Wednesday discussing a number of topics. (Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant)
From the moment the American Athletic Conference announced its new TV deal with ESPN in late March, the agreement drew skepticism — from fans and media in many AAC markets but particularly from those in Connecticut.
In the weeks following the announcement, UConn partisans (including athletic director David Benedict) criticized the deal for dumping too many games on the subscription-based digital platform ESPN+, for failing to cure UConn's financial problems, for tasking schools with broadcast production, and for leaving the future of the Huskies' relationship with SNY uncertain.
With that criticism in mind, AAC commissioner Mike Aresco volunteered to clear up what he viewed as "misconceptions" about the deal. In a 45-minute phone conversation last week, Aresco addressed ESPN+, the AAC's position in the college sports landscape, the logistics of TV production and more. Here are the highlights:
On what games will air on ESPN+:
Aresco said fans and media are mistaken to believe that the AAC's best games will be moving behind a paywall. In fact, he pointed out, the new deal will result in more of the conference's football and basketball games appearing on ESPN's "primary networks" (ABC, ESPN and ESPN2), as well as more appearing on ESPNU.
UConn women's basketball in particular could get a boost in ESPN airtime, he said.
"UConn can be on 10 times out of 13 appearance [the conference] is going to have for the women," Aresco said. "The guarantee we had in 2018-19 was four. This is a significant presence for UConn women's basketball. They may have as many games on ESPN major platforms as some of the major men's teams around the country."
On the UConn-SNY relationship:
Of course, many UConn fans don't care too much which television channel a game airs on, as long as it airs on a television channel. So a few more Huskies women's basketball games on ESPN2 likely won't mean much if that means losing more than a dozen SNY broadcasts.
When Benedict expressed his displeasure at the deal on the day it was announced, he specifically cited the risk to UConn's relationship with SNY.
Aresco pointed out that whereas SNY is available primarily in the tri-state area, ESPN+ can be accessed anywhere. But he also said he would happily bless an agreement between ESPN and SNY that would keep UConn games on the latter network.
"I'm not in any way minimizing the impact of SNY or it's importance to UConn," Aresco said. "But ESPN hasn't ruled out yet doing something with SNY. So let's see how that plays out."
ESPN executive Burke Magnus said recently that ESPN remains open to a deal with SNY.
On how the AAC’s deal compares to major-conference agreements:
For several years, Aresco has described the AAC as a "Power 6" conference, in opposition to the widely accepted "Power 5" framework, which excludes it from the ranks of the top leagues.
Depending on your perspective, the AAC's new deal (which is worth a reported $1 billion over 12 years) could be evidence that the conference is nearing "P5" status or that it remains quite far away. Aresco argued that the agreement establishes the AAC as the undisputed sixth best athletic conference and that it's arbitrary to draw a line between the top leagues and everyone else.
"The Pac-12 doesn't earn anywhere near what the Big Ten and the SEC are earning," Aresco said. "That doesn't mean that the Pac-12 isn't still viewed as a P5 conference. And so OK, there is a separation between us and the Pac-12 [which signed a $3 billion deal with ESPN and Fox in 2011], but we're getting closer. And you don't have to have the same amount of revenue to be considered part of that group."
Each AAC school will receive about $7 million under the terms of the conference's new TV agreement, and Aresco said annual per-school payouts will surpass $10 million. Both of those figures are up slightly from before the recent deal with ESPN.
East Hartford, CT 11/10/18 Connecticut Huskies running back Kevin Mensah (34) high-steps out of the grasp of two SMU defenders at Rentschler Field in East Hartford Saturday. UConn lost 62-50. Photo by John Woike | jwoike@courant.com (John Woike / Hartford Courant)
On comparisons between the AAC and the old Big East:
Aresco has led the conference since 2012, when it was still called the Big East, and has heard all sorts of comparisons between how things are now and how they used to be.
His advice for UConn fans holding the current AAC up against the old Big East and lamenting the drop in revenue, rivalries and prestige: It's time to move on.
"First of all, I want to be sensitive to those opinions, and I do understand those comparisons," he said. "But I do think at some point, in life and everything, you have to move on and you have to accept what you have, and you have to see the possibilities inherent in what you have."
On in-house production of ESPN+ sporting events:
One quirk of the ESPN-AAC deal is that the conference and its schools will be responsible for production of all games on ESPN+, beginning in 2020-21.
Aresco said the conference will hire a company to produce football games and league championships but that production for other games will likely fall to the schools. He said all events will be produced "economically" without sacrificing quality.
"They will be produced to a certain standard that we are working out with ESPN," he said. "Rest assured that ESPN will be happy with the standard of production."
Aresco said some schools could use students to aid in production.
On the idea that UConn could abandon FBS football:
As UConn's football program has struggled in terms of not only wins and losses but also dollars and cents, more and more observers have begun to wonder whether the school should leave the sport's top level. The Huskies could either drop back to the FCS ranks or ditch football altogether.
Unsurprisingly, Aresco is not a fan of the idea.
"I think that would be deleterious to UConn to give it up," he said. "They are a major state university. They have had a tremendous history in collegiate athletics. They need to be competitive in football, and they need to keep football at the FBS level."
If UConn dumped FBS football, he said, "it would diminish their overall appeal, in my view."
Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@courant.com.
LINK: David Hale: Your Recruiting Destiny is Already Set
- By Mark Ennis
- Premium: Collision Course
- 15 Replies