Everyone who wants to leave the Big East is now free to do so. Well, maybe “free” isn’t exactly the right word.
Pitt and the conference announced that the school will pay $7.5 million to join Syracuse in leaving the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2013. The Big East reached a similar deal with Syracuse earlier this week.
The agreement with Pitt includes the $5 million the school already paid after it announced it was switching leagues last September. It also puts an end to an acrimonious split between the Big East and one of its longest standing members.
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The Big East later Wednesday night confirmed it had dropped its lawsuit seeking $5 million from TCU for reneging on a commitment to join the league and instead joining the Big 12. The conference said in a statement that “TCU has fully discharged its obligations to the Big East and the lawsuit is amicably settled without admission of liability of any party.”
Conditions of the settlement weren’t released, but a person familiar with it told The Associated Press the Big East will receive $5 million from TCU. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement was to be made on the agreement.
The Big East filed the suit last month in Washington, claiming TCU failed to pay the league the $5 million it agreed to when the school joined the Big 12.
TCU was never an official member of the Big East but accepted an invite in November 2010 to join in 2012. The Big East contended TCU agreed to pay $5 million if it didn’t. TCU accepted an invite to the Big 12 in October and will start playing in the conference this year.
Add to the $20 million the Big East is getting from Pitt, Syracuse and TCU another $20 million that West Virginia agreed to pay the conference earlier this year when the school and the league settled their dueling lawsuits, and the Big East earned $40 million in departure fees.
Not a bad day’s work. The Big East can now concentrate on getting a new TV deal and deciding whether or not the name “Big East” makes sense for a conference that will have teams in all four continental time zones.