Wichita State's addition to the AAC becomes official on Friday, and the school last week wired $2.5M to the conference to "pay its entrance fee," according to Paul Suellentrop of the WICHITA EAGLE. WSU AD Darron Boatright said that the entrance fee was "paid for with a loan to the Wichita State University Intercollegiate Athletic Association." He added that the loan will be repaid with "private funds." Fundraising is "ongoing" and Boatright "declined to reveal the amount in hand." WSU will also "pay $41,400 annually" into the AAC's "reserve fund for five years, as other conference members did at the time of their membership." The contract "refers to Wichita State as a 'Basketball/Olympic Sports-only member.'" WSU is also "required to maintain its current roster of 15 sports." Should WSU "decide to add football" at the FBS level, it will "not compete in the American unless approved by conference members." WSU "estimates the move" to the AAC will cost it around $1M in "money lost from MVC revenues, the majority of that coming from NCAA Tournament victories." Those annual distributions "account for the bulk of WSU's money" -- in '15-16 it received $769,402 in "gross NCAA Tournament revenue from the MVC to account for its three NCAA games" (WICHITA EAGLE, 6/24).
