Sorry, that wasn't clear. $11M of the $17M combined exit fee will be paid by withheld AAC distributions. That means the full distribution fee, plus $1M of the $7M early exit fee, with the remaining $6M paid by UConn over 6 years.
I know that most fans believe this, but from my point of view it was death by three cuts: Ollie, PP, Diaco and yes the garbage contract with ESPN was the 4th cut. I still would have preferred AAC football in 2020 given the extra cost of an early exit.
This wasn't a practical option. The only alternative was to keep all sports in the AAC for 27 months. That would mean an additional $2M in travel costs, plus UConn paying for game production estimated at $500K to $1M, plus whatever the cost was for the infrastructure to be able to self-produce games, call it an additional $500K to $1M though it wouldn;t surprise me if it were more. The out of pocket "cost of staying" is anywhere from $3M-$4M. Thus the net cost to leave early is @$3M. (Practically speaking that net amount should be further reduced by time value. The cost to stay had to be paid in 2020 while the cost of leaving early is paid over 6 years.)
The $7M isn't a bad deal, particularly when you look at on a net basis. It gets better when you add in fan excitement leading to greater attendance and more merchandise purchases (w/o the AAC logo).
JMHO.
