The University of Central Florida’s athletics will transition to the American Athletic Conference next year.
With this conference change, UCF will have an opportunity to increase their brand nationally. The school’s athletic department has projected increases in nationally televised sporting events and revenue.
In an email sent to UCF students, Athletic Director Todd Stansbury said, “It is vitally important to continue increasing nationwide recognition for the UCF brand.”
This brand expansion may pay off for UCF in the long run. The university expects an increase in revenue in years to come, which in turn will provide the athletics department with increased funds. Much of the increase in revenue could stem from television deals with CBS and ESPN.
“Being affiliated with ESPN and CBS will also allow sports fans from all over the country to quickly get acquainted with our new conference name and brand,” Stansbury said. “The multimedia rights with the American Athletic Conference will net us more than it did in Conference USA,” said UCF’s Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Andy Seeley.
Although UCF’s move to the American Athletic Conference is still considered an upgrade from their years spent in Conference USA, the move is not as impactful as it was when it was first made.
When UCF accepted an invitation to join the then Big East in all sports, aspirations were high for the Knights and their fans. Nearly two years later and the conference has been gutted of its most prominent programs such as Notre Dame, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Rutgers.
At the time that UCF accepted the invitation, the Big East was arguably the strongest basketball conference in the nation. Since that time, the Big East schools known as the Catholic 7—DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova—have left the conference and have decided to take the conference name with them.
Each team that left the conference formerly known as the Big East will have to pay an exit fee to the conference, while those teams that are joining will pay an entrance fee. These revenues streams leave the conference with a large amount of money that they must figure out how to divide amongst its current members.
It was announced on Wednesday that the new conference will be named the American Athletic Conference, a name that has gotten mixed reviews.
“It sounds weird because their plan was to join the Big East, not the American Athletic Conference,” said UCF student and aspiring sports radio personality Wendell Muller.
Fellow student Michael Braga said the name change was a downgrade because “the name itself had history to it.”
Despite these exits and changes, UCF fans are still looking forward to the change in conferences and view it as an upgrade.
“I do feel excited, the American Athletic Conference is more of a respectable name than Conference USA,” junior Edward Sims said.
Other fans are excited to see how UCF’s brand will grow nationally. With the increase in nationally televised games, students are envisioning how it will grow the university.
“They will get exposure and money from TV deals,” Greg Scarlata said.
The overall success of the program will ultimately rely on their play on the field. Revenue, conference and brand growth will only take place if a winning product is placed on the field.
“Merchandise sales are more related to success in competition,” Seeley said.
