I am not sure what the amounts are for the new BYU deal with ESPN but the old one was $800K to $1.2 million per game. Here is an analysis of what we potentially got in the last deal:



https://kslsports.com/423502/byu-espn-contract-extension-seven-year-extension-thru-2026/?

“ Financially, BYU’s first contract with ESPN was believed to be around $6 million per year. Being a private institution, however, those financial terms are not available to the public. It’s not known how much the next television deal will bring BYU financially.”

The AAC’s most recent deal provides about $7 million per school per year.

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/39229011.

My guess is that the renewed TV deal with ESPN is probably similar to the AAC’s. $7 million a year would represent a 16% increase in average revenue from the old deal, which may be a reasonable increase to assume. If Boise and BYU joined the AAC that might increase the value of its TV deal. Either way, ESPN would renegotiate the deal to account for additional teams and BYU and Boise might end up with at least the same, if not slightly more, money than they are getting with their current deals.

Those of you arguing BYU would take a pay cut going to the AAC simply don’t have any evidence to justify that argument. None.

To me, the issue with the AAC is not about money (that seems like a manageable issue to deal with). It really comes down to exposure for the program. If TH feels he can get 5-7 P5 teams on the schedule each year, then exposure is probably greater with Independence. If he can only get 3-4 then maybe the exposure is about the same since he could get that within the allotted 4 OOC games in the AAC. Of course, having a shot at a NY6 bowl is probably greater with being in the AAC, but then again that comes down to whether TH considers a NY6 bowl as part of the exposure goal.

At the end of the day money isn’t the obstacle. The money is a relatively a small barrier that can be overcome very easily. It really comes down to what type of games TH feels he can get with the P5 and what the potential home schedules might look like. 2020 looked promising until Covid hit, so we will see what plays out.