The Eagle Is Branded: The American Unveils First Conference Mascot

The league heretofore known as the American Athletic Conference—which had desperately tried to sell itself as part of a “Power 6” in college sports—is banking on a new branding initiative under commissioner Tim Pernetti to revive its relevance.

On Monday, just ahead of its football media days later this week, the conference unveiled the results of a year-long “dynamic modernization,” which includes the introduction of what is believed to be the first-ever mascot for a college sports conference: a wingless, musclebound eagle named Soar.

In addition to its avian ambassador, the league has decided to drop the modifier “Athletic” from its official name. It will now refer to itself as “The American Conference” on first mention, or simply “The American.” This move retires the old AAC acronym—which often got mixed up with the ACC—but introduces a new challenge: competing for search engine optimization with the 2010 George Clooney spy thriller of the same name.

The American’s rebrand is part of Pernetti’s broader push to redefine the 15-member league that long strived to be seen beyond its Group of 5 reality. In the past three years, the American has lost Cincinnati, Houston, UConn and SMU to realignment, and entering the 2025–26 season, only three of its original 10 schools remain: South Florida, Memphis and Temple.

Pernetti, the former Rutgers athletic director who most recently served as president of IMG Academy, commenced his commissionership in June 2024. He replaced the retiring Mike Aresco, the conference’s first commissioner, who pushed the American’s rhetorical attempt to claim power conference identification despite not having any autonomy status.

“Maybe that is just not realistic, but you fight for it anyway,” Aresco said in an interview with Sportico in late 2023, as his time at the tiller was winding down. “I hope my successor continues the big fight, because it is worth it.”

While Pernetti appears to have moved away from his predecessor’s “fake-it-til-you-make-it” approach, the branding embraces a fighting spirit through its new slogan, “Built to Rise,” which also implicitly acknowledges the conference’s status among the striving middle tier of the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision.

“Over the past year, we stepped back, listened, and involved our community.” Pernetti said in an embargoed press release statement Monday. “That’s how real, lasting identity is built. We’re not slick, we’re strong.”

The “Built to Rise” moniker is also the name of a new, 30-second public service announcement the American plans to run, featuring a voiceover by Pernetti.

For its rebrand, the American worked with Anachel, the media consulting firm run by Carrie Cecil, whose previous college sports work includes having served as former Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren‘s outside PR advisor during the pandemic.

Pernetti, for his part, has made the American’s commercial identity a core part of his early agenda.

“From day one, it has been a priority to do a deep dive to understand the power of the American brand,” the commissioner said in his speech at last year’s then-AAC football Media Days. “Because investing in our brand is not just about games; it’s about building sustainability, creating our legacy, delivering an unrivaled student-athlete experience, and capturing the hearts of our fans.”

According to its recently filed tax return, the American brought in $147.7 million of revenue in the fiscal year 2024, of which $70.1 million owed to television and radio rights and another $25.1 came from former member exit fees. Those FY24 earnings were up from the $123.4 million reported the previous fiscal year.

As part of its commercial overhaul, the league parted ways with Learfield as its external sponsorship sales consultant and in May launched a new in-house business unit, American Rise Ventures, led by former Professional Fighters League COO Bryan Calka.