UConn will play this season as an independent after leaving the AAC for the Big EastGETTY IMAGES
UConn football and CBS Sports Network have "partnered on an agreement that will televise four home games this fall and all home games" through the '23 season, according to Chip Malafronte of the NEW HAVEN REGISTER. The deal is a "much needed maneuver to bolster a program" which will be "left to fend for itself as an independent" after UConn last summer announced that it was leaving the AAC so it could join the football-free Big East this summer. UConn AD David Benedict said that he "expects another deal to televise the remaining three home games this fall." The AAC’s deal with ESPN, announced last year, "relegated many of the Huskies games to ESPN+" (NEW HAVEN REGISTER, 5/12).
BIG STEP FORWARD: In Hartford, Mike Anthony writes UConn's new TV deal provides the "needed financial lifeblood and the exposure required to be taken seriously." In the past 11 months, Benedict has "turned a decidedly complicated situation into one of possibility." He had "two football jobs -- piece together interesting schedules and land a TV deal -- and he nailed them both." Financial specifics "weren’t available," but the CBS Sports deal is "over seven figures for the four years" (HARTFORD COURANT, 5/12).
