The AAC is moving to Dallas, as it pushes to be one of the big boys

The conference has been headquartered in Rhode Island.

Just about everything the American Athletic Conference does lately is focused on getting it a seat at the table with the so-called Power 5. It’s why they have Power 6 branding all over the place, and why the league got behind UCF’s push to be included in the Playoff discussion earlier this season.

Now, they’re doing it with their physical location. In two years the league will move from Providence, Rhode Island to Dallas, per The Dallas Morning News. The league stayed in Rhode Island when it split from the Big East upon its formation in 2013. The move makes sense because of what Dallas offers.

The College Football Playoff’s headquarters are in Irving. The Big 12 and Conference-USA are both based here. Close to a half dozen bowl games take place in D-FW each year. So the proximity to power players in the sport is a powerful draw for the American.

It’s been in the works since 2015 at least, and perhaps most important to the upcoming location change is the fact that it puts the league near the CFP’s headquarters. If commissioner Mike Aresco’s got a gripe with the way things are going down, he can now more directly lobby for the league face-to-face.