Sports Business Journal is reporting that the American Athletic Conference is considering a grant of rights (GOR) in order to secure more money in its upcoming television negotiations.
The AAC’s deal expires in 2020, as the upstart league seeks a pay raise in order to compete with the big spenders in college sports. Meanwhile, just about every member school is plotting its path out of the conference. A grant of rights means that any school would forfeit its television earnings through the end of the agreement for leaving before the grant of rights is up.
Currently, the TV deal with ESPN pays just under $2 million per school per year, but that deal was made when the conference was an unknown commodity.