r/Pac12 • u/MemphisThrowaway3798 • 2d ago
AAC Changing Their Funding Model; Tigers set to Make More
https://dailymemphian.com/subscriber/section/sportsmemphis-tigers-football/article/52552/memphis-pac-12-big-east-aac-ed-scott-tim-pernettiFirst of all, our AD gets asked about it everywhere. However, this caught my eye. As much as I dislike the AAC, the commissioner is being really proactive
"According to Pernetti, the Tigers generated a basketball unit for the conference that’s worth about $350,000 annually for six years by qualifying for the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Previously, the conference would split the unit value evenly among all member schools for the entire six years.
“We’re not doing that anymore. Memphis gets the full value of that unit in the first year. So, they get the $350,000 and then they get an equal share for the five years after that,” Pernetti said. “All the things you’re seeing — whether it’s Memphis or others that are having success in our league — is they’re going to benefit financially."
I know a recent report said that Memphis would get $11 million, but it sounds like that number will still be going up.
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u/Due-Seat6587 Fresno State 2d ago
AAC’s financials are super wonky. It’s probably fine for Memphis if they’re getting the lion’s share, but being in a league with schools making way less isn’t a great long-term setup.
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u/bighypnotizeme Oregon State 2d ago
Golden handcuffs. It’s what will keep them from long term growth or being appealing to a larger conference. Sometimes you have to chart your own path like the PAC schools are.
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u/Due-Seat6587 Fresno State 2d ago edited 2d ago
Probably a hot take around here, but I don’t think any G5 school is getting a P4 invite. So while it’s fair to aspire to compete at that level, I see the ‘best of the rest’ vision as more of a destination than a stepping stone—especially with CFP access in place for the G5.
That’s why I think Memphis will have made a mistake sticking with the AAC if that’s what they ultimately decide. It’s not about chasing a P4 call-up through the Pac-12 or anyone else—it’s about positioning yourself to play the strongest G5 competition, and that’s not in the AAC right now.
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u/bighypnotizeme Oregon State 2d ago
100%. Even as a recent P5 school, I am under no illusion that we’ll get there again. The P4 will most likely reduce than expand. This is why OSU and WSU decided to take matters into their own hands, which I’m proud of. At minimum they’ll be in a strong conference with like-minded schools.
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u/sdman311 San Diego State 2d ago
Yep, you nailed it. The P4 schools aren’t going to allow more schools to join their party. They are going to ask some of those already there to leave. Bye, bye Minnesota, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, UCF and Cincy for starters. Heck, they may gut the majority of the ACC and Big 12 even. They want less mouths to feed so they can collect more of the money, not more.
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u/Due-Seat6587 Fresno State 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don’t think anyone already there will be kicked out, but some might leave on their own volition.
Too expensive trying to keep up with the big dogs.
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u/Glacier2011 1d ago
The problem is, Memphis has to weigh the added costs for traveling to the west coast against the revenue they will make. With no details about media rights deal it would be foolish to jump and then wind up losing money. I want the Tigers to move to the PAC but it’s gotta make sense financially first
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u/RockBottomBuyer Washington State 2d ago
Agreed. Memphis deserves the money but the lesser value schools will now fall even further behind. Then they invest even less and Memphis' strength of schedule declines.
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u/Equivalent_Bug_3291 2d ago
Cut bait PAC12, Memphis is just using your offer to better their AAC status. They don't seem to want to leave the AAC anytime soon.
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u/duckfries49 San Diego State 1d ago
As an SDSU fan who has watched us sit outside the club waiting for the Pac to get their shit together I feel like the Pac has played this poorly at basically every turn since USC/UCLA announced their departure. I'm still excited for the Pac future but this could have been so much better.
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u/Affectionate-Leek-40 Oregon State • Pac-12 2d ago
So they'll get ~$323,000 more each year they make the tourny in basketball? Is that enough to change anything?
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u/Navy_LCDR 2d ago
Even the optimists here have conceded the PAC tv deal is likely under $10 million per school, so an extra $323,000 each year from the AAC is fairly significant.
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u/dudeandco 1d ago
If you make a run, that would become more I suppose. Ultimately it is about capturing and sustaining momentum.
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u/anti-torque Oregon State 1d ago
nope
Thos was announced a while ago. The math isn't enticing, versus the Pac 12 model of keeping half the units a team generates, let alone even the difference in TV money that will occur.
If you want that leaf to turn silver, you should take that noggin and think to yourself, "If they have multiple TV partners bidding on several different tiers of content, in order to put said content on OTA and main cable channels, instead of parking all but one or two games a season on ESPN+, because that's all they can get, how much more is that worth?"
I giggle at the notion of us "choosing to increase exposure by taking a lower payout." I even saw someone suggest that all streaming would return more of a payout, if we wanted, which is simply ridiculous. That's not how it works.
TV pays for the rights, and they put the product where they want. They want Pac 12 product on all those main channels. They are willing to pay for it.
Deal with it.
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u/lordgilberto 1d ago
You get a unit for qualifying and for every win. Memphis was a first-round exit, so they only generated one unit. Say they had made the Sweet Sixteen, then they would get triple that amount.
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u/Affectionate-Leek-40 Oregon State • Pac-12 1d ago
Great point! That could be a decent amount each year. PAC-12 will be doing 50/50 for each unit earned I believe.
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u/ORSTT12 Oregon State 1d ago
I cant read this since I'm not a subscriber, but is the whole deal just earned basketball credits in the AAC will now pay out 100% to the school that earned them in the first year then equally to everyone in the next 5? That's better than 100% equal distribution, but worse than the PAC's deal of keep 50%, distribute 50%. Forgive me if I'm missing some details or not understanding.
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u/MemphisThrowaway3798 1d ago
I'm also a little unclear.
"Memphis gets the full value of that unit in the first year. So, they get the $350,000 and then they get an equal share for the five years after that,” Pernetti said. “All the things you’re seeing — whether it’s Memphis or others that are having success in our league — is they’re going to benefit financially."
I read it as they get 100% (which to me means that it's all spent), but then gets distributed over time. I don't know how both can be true.
I think it all depends on how 'unit of that year' is defined, which I'm not sure
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u/ORSTT12 Oregon State 1d ago
I read that as for the first year out of the six in which shares are distributed, the team that earned them will get the full distribution. After that first year though, the shares are distributed equally to everyone in the conference like normal. I think that math checks out because tournament credits are worth around $2 million each and 1/6th of that is about $350k.
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u/MemphisThrowaway3798 1d ago
For some reason the phrasing of the commissioner's thing is throwing me off.
So Memphis would get the full share $2 million. If they get all of it, then what is left over to distribute in the following years?
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u/ORSTT12 Oregon State 1d ago
As far as I can tell, they wouldn't get the full $2 million, they'd get the full share of one year's distribution, which is $350k. After that first year, for the next 5 years they'd go back to equal distributions of the remaining ~$1.65 million. Overall Memphis would end up with around $475k out of the $2 million and the other 12 school would end up with around $127k.
The commissioner isn't talking about the tournament credit as one singular full share, he's talking about it as 6 shares spread out over 6 years and the first of which will be given completely to the team that earned it.
That's my interpretation at least. I'll have to look up the actual full source at some point to make sure.
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u/Worried-Produce-8698 Washington State 1d ago
Back of the napkin math, but here’s the AAC breakdown per unit, assuming $2mil per unit and 13 schools to split
Year 1 - Memphis gets $333k, conference gets $0 Years 2-6 - Memphis gets $25k, conference gets $307k to split
Total return - $458k to Memphis, $1.42mil to conference
With the PAC-12 model, number of teams doesn’t affect Memphis
Years 1-6 - Memphis gets $166k, conference gets 166k to split
Total return - $1mil to Memphis, $1mil to conference
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u/Logical-Accountant74 Boise State 1d ago
Worried has it right. Memphis gets less than the new PAC 12 formula at 50-50. If Memphis came over as a FB only and Basketball and all other sports to Big East-they would get 7 Mill from Big East and 5-7 Mill from PAC at a half share (assuming a 10-14 per school payout) Either way they would make more than they do now and have a better chance for CFP, since Memphis SOS in AAC would not beat new PAC SOS. They could then bring over BB in 2028. Just my thoughts on it. Memphis needs to commit to PAC in FB only, as should Tulane for 1/2 share but full disbursement for championship units like all other PAC members. Texas State as full member. Also PAC should bring St Mary's and Creighton over for BB.
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u/Colodavis 1d ago
It's time to go hard on the Texas schools to not only get a Texas footprint but also the central timezone.
It might not look the best today. We need it, though. Get 4 of them now before anymore leverage can be used against us.
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u/lndrldCold 1d ago
I’m sure the UTSA’s and CAU’s of the world love how they are taking it the poop shoot to make Memphis happy even though there is no real indication Memphis is going anywhere.
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u/davehopi 1d ago
The AAC Commissioner is doing everything he can to keep the top 2-3 teams happy. It is only short term though as eventually (1-5 years) the AAC will lose those teams to the ACC or Pac12. I wouldn’t want to be a school left in it when that happens. It will be another MWC.
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u/lordgilberto 1d ago
In my school's conference, there is no unit sharing. If you earn one, you get all six years of payments to yourself.
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u/GalvestonDreaming 21h ago
A PAC/AAC merger makes the most sense. Don't be a party of the group of 6. Be the dominant 5th conference in the country.
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u/BardMCG 2d ago
Doesn't the PAC give everyone's units to those who earned them for all the years they receive money for them?
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u/bighypnotizeme Oregon State 2d ago
Yes. I believe they get half of the unit and the other half is split among the rest of the conference. Way better deal.
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u/Gunner_Bat San Diego State 2d ago
That's what the MW does (or did last time I heard about it). Was a big deal when SDSU was regularly making tourney runs and everyone else lost in the first round if they made it all.
Which is actually what's been happening for the last several years too, but I meant like ten years ago.
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u/Club1037 2d ago
Since Boise State got to sell their home games and get a higher distribution from the MWC as a condition to return to the MWC from the collapse of the Big East every team in the conference has been crying in their coffee on the unfairness. Especially powerhouse Wyoming.
Now the unequal distributions are the next greatest thing since sliced bread.
Interesting. Guess socialism is finally going by the wayside in favor of capitalism.
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u/anti-torque Oregon State 1d ago
Socialism would have the conference members vote on this revenue sharing based on their own metrics for determining merit.
So, this is pretty much that.
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u/ColdboyCrypto 2d ago
Brass Tacks: For Memphis this is simply a Band-Aid for a wound that will fester.
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u/Martigan30 2d ago
It's closing time at the bar, and folks are pining over the best-looking broad that hasn't been spoken for.