After at least one previously unsuccessful attempt, Big East officials will ask member presidents to approve a change in the leagues bylaws that would require a school to pay at least three times its annual income from the conference’s TV revenue streams in exit fees, the Sporting News reports.
That teleconference is set for Friday.
The Big East’s exit fees are currently set at $5 million; under the league’s current TV deal, the new amount would reportedly be somewhere between $15 million and $17 million.
Big East presidents had been unable to agree on a number for the conference’s exit fees during an Oct. 2 teleconference, and the inability by the Big East to secure its membership through conference bylaw modification has caused hesitation by such programs as Boise State and Navy to join.
The Big East had previously authorized an expansion that would double the conference’s football membership to 12 teams.
“Navy has been consistent since Day One, and this is in no way a slight to whoever they are thinking about. The question remains about the anchor six (schools) that need to get together and determine if they’re going to remain focused in being the backbone of what that conference needs to be,” said Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk.
Because of the tentativeness by Boise State and Navy, it appears the Big East will concede to raising its exit fees as a prerequisite to expansion. However, 75 percent of the league’s current members must approve the proposal. That hasn’t happened so far.
Rutgers and UConn have made it known they were looking at potentially leaving the Big East for another conference if they were wanted; West Virginia has been connected to the SEC, but perhaps more realistically, to the Big 12 if they were to expand back to 12 members.
A source told the Sporting News that Louisville, also considered a candidate for the Big 12 if the conference expands, may decline to participate in Friday’s call.