The Bishin Cutter wrote:
Pitt and 'Cuse paid $7.5m each, TCU $5m, and WVU "took it all" for $20m, which was absorbed by the Big XII. Had WVU not been so eager to leave so quickly, I suspect they had a $7.5m "out" heading their way.
The Big XII schools took their discount at the expense of their shares. Missouri may have gotten a 60% off coupon out of the conference, but the Big XII took 90% of Missouri's cut from its media deals.
There seems to be a lot we don't fully know when programs walk if they can get out at such a discount. I would assume that were an ACC program to defect, it would likely also come piecemeal'ed between an out-of-pocket rate and a prorated media share.
Regardless, I think UMD is thinking big-picture. Even for a school as prominent as it is, to think they are draining resources can't bode well for the ACC. UMD isn't a doormat or fallback like Rutgers is; the cost of remaining in the ACC could be fatal for more athletic and academic programs. It's for this that the ACC should consider its moves wisely, as UMD is put in the precarious position of being turned away from its historic rivals for a more Big East-like division that might help the travel costs some. For UMD, the point where the Big Ten (or SEC, who knows) may be a better home than the ACC could be when the school realizes the only thing being in the ACC means is just the name.
The only thing that would remain, then, would be: who's #14?
http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/3 ... i-texas-amThe two schools will be leaving the Big 12 for the SEC at a price of just $12.41 million each. While to you and me that sounds like a pretty hefty number, it isn't much when you consider how much both schools could have lost if not for some top notch legal work.
"Both schools announced in the fall of 2011 that they would be leaving the Big 12 on July 1, 2012, but Big 12 bylaws state that schools that provide less than 12 months' notice of their eventual departure are subject to having 90 percent of their conference revenue retained.
The total was estimated to be nearly $30 million for each school, but as you can see, Missouri and Texas A&M won't even have to pay half of that."