To be clear, they don’t need much to close any gap between the AAC and BE that might exist.
And they’re going to have a TV contract and home games. I hate UConn as much as the next guy, but let’s be realistic here...
You’re comparing 2 different time periods when you reference the BE deal and the AAC deal. One number is going into a 12(?) year media deal. The other is halfway through a deal. That distinction is massive The gap isn’t $4.16 MM vs $7 MM.
Also, they were making $1 MM on SNY. Football is worth at least as much as the rest of their garbage. Even schools like MTSU and Liberty play P5 schools at home, and UConn will have more flexibility than the MTSU’s of the world. They will get 1-2 P5 home games, 1-2 upper g5 games, several Indy games (UMass, Army, Liberty, etc.), a fcs game, and several other random games. It’s certainly not a great schedule, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the unwound the team after the stadium was old enough to tear down w/o losing face. But it’s not as morbid as this forum is making it sound (their win-loss numbers, however, will be).
Going to the BE probably isn’t a bad financial move, and it’s a great competitive move for them. Their football program wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t go anywhere, no matter what conference they’re in.
Also, you’re not wrong about the cost avoidance part. It will be interesting to see if their departure is a material change that will cause the AAC deal to go down.
But back to UConn...
The reason why I’m giddy about the move is that it forces UConn to admit what they really are, which is causing a gleeful amount of internal strife. Maybe it will tank their donations, but, truthfully, being in the AAC isn’t/wouldn’t be good for alumni relations, either.
You’re right about them being the biggest loser in conference realignment to the extent that you don’t balance it by them being the biggest winner in conference realignment after the 1st ACC raid (who goes from fcs STRAIGHT to a power conference?!)