One more consideration to think about before you get up and do your happy dance...............Exit Fees.
“We didn’t join the Big East to leave,” UConn athletic director
David Benedict said back in May, 2020. “They didn’t bring us in to leave, and we didn’t join to leave.” The school
couldn’t be happier to be back in the Big East,
and one way it’s showed its gratitude is by agreeing to pay a whopping $30 million exit fee if it were to leave any time within its first six years in the league. That fee gradually decreases after six years, but will still be substantial for a while.
Don’t forget, UConn is still paying the AAC about $1 million a year over the next six years for its own $17 million exit fee, which was largely covered by turning over the school’s share of media rights to the AAC. UConn currently has a $43.5 million athletics budget deficit that has caused the school to drop several sports, among other measures. But wouldn’t all those deficits be made up for by the financial windfall of joining the Big 12 or ACC? Well, sure. But not for a long time. Yes, the ACC shares $32.3 million per member school via its media-rights deal. The Big East only shares about $4 million per school. But typically, when a school joins a new conference, it doesn’t become fully-vested for such payments for several years.
Schools aren’t immediately fully-vested in NCAA units and other payments earned by their new conference, either. UConn won’t be fully-vested in the Big East for another three years. Right now, it’s all speculation. But don’t speculate that UConn is packing for a Big East departure. Bottom line is that may not be happening anytime soon — if ever.