A little more than a month ago, news broke that the UConn Huskies were set to leave the AAC and re-join the Big East. The Huskies announced the move to the Big East shortly afterward and agreed to join the conference in all sports except football. Now, we know the financial details of how much UConn’s departure from the AAC will cost.
American Athletic Conference set to announce UConn departure terms have been finalized.
Sources: UConn's exit fee will be $17 million, payable in lump sums of $5-plus million each of next two years (AAC withholding distribution money) and about $1 million annually for six years.— Mike Anthony (@ManthonyHearst) July 26, 2019
According to the Hartford Courant’s Mike Anthony, UConn will pay a total of $17 million to the AAC by the end of the 2026 fiscal year. Most of that $17 million is just a withholding of television rights fees that UConn would have been entitled to if they had stayed in the AAC. The Huskies were set to receive $5.1 million this summer for the AAC’s television deal, and their share next year is projected to be between $5 million and $6 million. That will leave the school owing a little less than $7 million.
From there, the agreement has UConn paying the AAC a little more than $1 million for the next six years, culminating in a total of $17 million.
UConn was forced to pay a higher exit fee as a result of announcing its intention to leave the AAC earlier than stipulated in its initial contract with the conference. Schools were supposed to give 27 months notice and pay $10 million to the AAC if they decided to leave the conference early, but the Huskies announced that they intended to join the Big East for the 2020-21 season. That is more than a year earlier than the 27 months spelled out in the initial agreement, leading to the school paying out more money.
UConn will become an FBS independent in football & reaches agreement with American, will pay $17 million exit fee to leave league & join Big East In Olympic sports on July 1, 2020
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 26, 2019
As a result of the move, UConn’s football program will remain at the FBS level, but it will become an independent. The Huskies reportedly were looking to join Conference USA and a couple other conferences as a football-only member, but no conference wanted to add them for just football. That will leave them in a tough place starting in 2020.
H/T Hartford Courant
