AAC Rebrands as American Conference to Fuel Growth in College Landscape

The American Athletic Conference is rebranding itself as, simply, the American Conference as part of a wide-ranging effort it says is designed to fuel growth and elevate its position in a quickly changing college-sports landscape.

The 15-team football conference also on Monday unveiled a new slogan — “Built To Rise” — and introduced Soar the Eagle as a new mascot. Both will be featured in promotions and public service announcements that air during games involving its teams.

By changing names, the conference will get rid of the “AAC” nickname that often got confused with the Power 4’s ACC, the Atlantic Coast Conference. It wants to be known as the “American Conference,” or the “American.”

American’s commissioner, Tim Pernetti, has been aggressive about positioning the conference in the name, image and likeness era, announcing earlier this year that all members except Army and Navy would be required to revenue share at least $10 million over the next three seasons; it was the first league to set such a minimum standard.

Under the new NIL rules, schools are allowed to share up to $20.5 million in revenue in the 2025-26 season.

“This modernization is rooted in who we are and where we’re headed,” Pernetti said. “It prioritizes clarity, momentum, and the competitive advantage driving every part of our conference forward.”

These are fraught days for the Group of 5 conferences, which includes the American, and whose teams have been constant targets in an era of realignment.

Since 2023, the American has lost Cincinnati, UCF and SMU but has added seven teams: Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB, UTSA and Army (for football). It now has 15 teams. Army and Tulane stayed on the fringe of the race for a spot in the College Football Playoff race last season.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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