The $17 Million Divorce
The Story: UConn will pay a $17 million fee in order to leave the AAC early and join the Big East on July 1, 2020.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: UConn will pay an additional $7 million on top of the $10 million exit fee to leave roughly two years earlier than contractually allowed. The buyout will be funded by nearly $5 million for last year’s media rights, which are being held in escrow, next year’s $6 million in revenue due and then a $1 million payment a year for the next six years. The Huskies will also pay a $3.5 million entrance fee into the Big East. The athletic department will pay a cool $20.5 million to make this move. UConn also must play four men’s basketball games against AAC opponents each season for the coming future.
WHY $17 MILLION? The $17 million is cold hard cash. This isn’t some accounting trick that can be used to make money show up and then disappear through various transfers. The AAC initially wanted $30 million, per reports. Huskies settled on the hefty price of $17 million. It’s a lot of money, but we guess it could have been worse. That’s probably a fair deal for all sides.
HUSKIES GOING INDY: UConn announced that it will go an independent in the 2020 and athletic director Dave Benedict said the school is committed to playing top-flight football. Why does this matter? Because UConn has only four games scheduled for 2020 and will need to find eight more for next season. Tall task? Yes. Impossible? Of course not.
IS UCONN COMMITTED TO FOOTBALL? We would like to think so, and the school is saying so. But, there are only four games on the schedule and there is no television deal for 2020. This is going to be a massive undertaking for the athletic department, and make no mistake, the pressure is on and tens of millions of dollars are at stake. This isn’t a milk-and-cookie operation and UConn could come out in a good spot. The risk that the athletic department took here with the football program is substantial. No one knows how this will turn out.
CAN THE SCHEDULE BE GOOD? It depends who you ask. Several local outlets made vague reassurances over the weekend that UConn’s schedule will be better than its AAC schedule. Of course, here is the caveat — there are no details. It’s a bit self-serving, in our opinion, to tout a better schedule until there is one. We do think there is a chance that Benedict can make a good schedule and come up with something that fans will be thrilled with. The national media are less robust on UConn’s chances of putting together a compelling schedule and have surmised that UConn is giving up being a serious football school. Either the local media are getting played or the national media are uninformed. It’s probably a bit of both. Time will tell if Randy Edsall can recruit with no bowl tie-ins and no idea of what the schedule will look like 12 months from now.
BOTTOM LINE: It’s done. UConn is headed to the Big East next year and will be an independent in football, joining Notre Dame, BYU, UMass, Liberty, Army and New Mexico State with no conference. This is a massive step for the school, but at least the limbo of when the school will exit will allow the administration to put together a football schedule. Fan interest is the No. 1 driver of the football schedule right now. Would we have made this move? No. This is too big a risk with a property such as UConn athletics to voluntarily go the independent route in football. This will have consequences for decades to come. There is upside and potential here and we are anxiously awaiting Benedict’s promise to give football fans a schedule worth having.
Mets Trade Former UConn Star Kay
The Story: New York Mets pitching prospect and former UConn star Anthony Kay was one of the pieces of the trade that sent Toronto Blue Jays ace Marcus Stroman to Queens.
KAY HIGHLY SOUGHT: Kay was 7-3 with a 1.49 ERA in Double A and was in the MLB Futures Game. A 2016 draft pick, he missed all of 2017 recovering from Tommy John surgery. After his starring in Double-A, Kay has a 1-3 record and a 6.62 ERA since being promoted to Triple-A Syracuse.
Morning Read
EXPECTATIONS FOR AKOK, BOUKNIGHT AND GAFFNEY? Big things are expected out of men’s hoops recruits Akok Akok, James Bouknight and Jalen Gaffney. Are we asking too much? (Hearst Connecticut Media)
TAURASI, BIRD TO PLAY FOR USA: Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird will continue to play for the women’s national team ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. (USABasketball.com)
PURVIS HEADED TO ISRAEL: Rodney Purvis, who has had several cups of coffee in the NBA, will play in Israel next season. (Hapoel Tel Aviv on Twitter)
BRONCOS SIGN WILLIAMS: Former UConn wide receiver Nick Williams has signed a camp deal with the Denver Broncos. (DenverBroncos.com)
TRIO IN ALL-STAR GAME: Tina Charles, Kia Nurse and Napheesa Collier all appeared in the WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas yesterday. (WNBA.com)
