White: AAC exit fee won’t hold back UCF if Big 12 comes calling
UCF athletics director Danny White said he doesn’t expect the school to have any problems paying the American Athletic Conference’s eight-figure exit fee should the Knights receive an invitation from the Big 12. The AAC requires 27 months of notice from a school to leave the conference and has a $10 million exit fee.
“It’s premature to even speculate on it because we don’t know what it would be, but if an invitation were to come our way, we don’t expect that to be an issue,” he said. “But I don’t have information on it to make a decision.”
UCF president John Hitt has been public about his desire to see his school receive strong consideration for a Big 12 expansion. White, who has only been with the school since November, has been less vocal. He repeatedly has implored fans to keep their focus on helping UCF control its own destiny by, in large part, increasing revenue and ticket sales.
White’s more subdued responses on Big 12 expansion talk has stood in stark contrast to some of his peers, including Memphis AD Tom Bowen and East Carolina AD Jeff Compher, both of whom have released statements on the topic
and have publicly made aggressive pushes to join the league and rally city leaders around them.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean White hasn’t been working behind the scenes to court more widespread support from the city to assist for a Big 12 push.
“We’re not of the thinking that public campaigning is appropriate or respectful and appreciative of the opportunity from the members of the American Athletic Conference. So we handle all of those conversations in a more confidential-type way,” White said.
Joining a Power 5 conference would double UCF’s league revenue and undoubtedly would help the Knights strengthen their case for being a destination school for elite coaches and athletes.
Those facts aren’t lost on White, but the former University
of Buffalo athletic director wants fans to be assured UCF can still become a national powerhouse without the crutch of a power conference.
“I think there’s a lot of speculation in the college football world nationally and locally as well, but what we need to be confident about is, we’re the largest undergraduate enrollment in the country, we’re gonna have the largest alumni base in America, we’re in this great market, it’s the fastest-growing city in the country, we have talent all around us in just about every sport that we participate in, we have great facilities, great weather. We’re gonna have huge opportunities,” White said.
“It doesn’t have to happen right now and it doesn’t really matter, in my opinion, what league we’re in for us to realize our longterm potential. We could be nationally elite. So we’ll always position ourselves as best as we can in the American
Athletic Conference right now. It’s a great league, and we are extremely confident in what we’re going to do here on the national stage.”
UCF to host Florida Cup
UCF’s Bright House Networks Stadium will serve as a host for the Florida Cup, the largest international sporting event in the state, in 2017.
The friendly soccer tournament was broadcast to more than 170 countries during its two-week run last year.
This year’s Florida Cup will take place at venues throughout the state from Jan. 7-21, with UCF hosting multiple matches and the final.
To prepare for the matches, UCF will extend the corners of the playing area to create a full-size regulation pitch after the Knights’ football team plays its final home game.