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UConn will pay $17M to leave the AAC for Big East

Susan Herbst, left, President, University of Connecticut, and Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman, speak during the announcement that the University of Connecticut is re-joining the Big East Conference, at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Thursday, June 27, 2019. UConn is coming home as the Huskies are officially introduced again as a member of the Big East Conference. (Richard Drew / Associated Press)
Associated Press

STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut has agreed to pay a $17 million exit fee to the American Athletic Conference, so the school can rejoin the Big East next year.

AAC bylaws stipulate any school seeking to leave the conference must give 27 months’ notice and pay a $12 million fee, but the sides negotiated the higher fee for UConn to leave sooner.

UConn Athletic Director David Benedict in a statement Friday thanked AAC Mike Aresco and his staff for their professionalism during the transition process.

Aresco praised Benedict for helping the sides reach a “swift and amicable resolution.”

The Huskies will join the Big East in all sports except football, men’s and women’s ice hockey and rowing. UConn also announced Friday its football program will become an independent in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2020.