Army could be joining AAC in the coming weeks, but a few hurdles remain
Though Navy is already a member of the conference, the traditional timing of the Army-Navy game won't be disrupted
ROSEMONT, Ill. — This round of realignment isn’t quite over just yet.
The American Athletic Conference and Army remain embroiled in deep negotiations over a marriage that could commence in a “few weeks,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said from suburban Chicago on Wednesday. The mutual interest between the school’s football program and the American has evolved into a serious endeavor where financials — potentially the final step — are now being explored by league executives.
“We are definitely pursuing it,” Aresco said in an interview with Yahoo Sports. “There’s a reasonable possibility it gets done. Army is interested. We certainly are.”
Army, independent since leaving Conference USA in 2004, would join the AAC as a 14th member and only in football. A month into their courtship, the two sides continue to work through various hurdles in an effort to have the Black Knights join the league beginning next season.
As part of a potential agreement with the league, Army would continue its annual rivalry game with Navy on the traditional date on the second weekend of December. The game will not count in the conference standings, and the two schools will not play in the regular season. However, they could meet in the conference championship game as the top two finishers in the regular season, Aresco said, and then would play again in the Army-Navy Game.
There are other issues that make this possible marriage between the AAC and Army unique.
Army’s television contract with CBS Sports Network extends through the 2028 season. The network owns all of the program’s home games over that stretch. The AAC would begin controlling Army’s home game broadcasting rights starting in 2029 unless the league or its broadcasting partner, ESPN, comes to a financial settlement with CBS Sports Network.
Another hurdle is Army’s future football schedules. As an independent, the Black Knights have more than 80 games scheduled in the coming years, with a combined exit fee of more than $35 million, sources tell Yahoo Sports. The school has enlisted scheduling guru Dave Brown in an effort to break free of the agreements or reschedule the games. There is a possibility that Army’s scheduled opponents could conceivably play one another.
The financials could be a tricky issue as well. The AAC’s six new expansion teams are not receiving the same amount of conference revenue distribution as the original members (an average of about $9 million a year).
“We’ve been sensitive in bringing in teams,” Aresco said. “While equitable, the distribution isn’t quite the same.”
He declined to get into specifics of Army’s potential payout, but the league has reserve cash via exit fees of three recently departed members to the Big 12 (Houston, UCF and Cincinnati) and a soon-to-be departed member to the ACC (SMU).
The possible marriage is a win-win. The American adds another military academy located in a new state (New York). In football, the league has a massive footprint, now up the East Coast, as far West as UTSA and south to FAU.
Aresco would nab a consistently successful program. Under head coach Jeff Monken, the Black Knights have won at least eight games in five of the past seven seasons. The school recently made a hefty commitment, extending Monken through the 2027 season with a salary of more than $2 million.
The move would be the latest by an independent to join a conference. If Army relocates, there would be only three football-playing independent members of FBS: Notre Dame, UConn and UMass. For all other sports, Army is primarily a member of the Patriot League.
