Both UConn, Dan Hurley will reap big financial benefits from Final Four run

The UConn men’s basketball team has made a run to the Final Four for the first time since 2014, and it will naturally bring financial benefits to the school’s athletic program and coach Dan Hurley.

Hurley’s contract calls for bonuses and extensions that will add up to close to $700,000 as he leads his team deeper into March Madness.

When he arrived in March 2018, Hurley signed a six-year contract calling for roughly $2.75 million per year, a base salary of $400,000 and a supplemental salary, for speaking engagements, fund-raising and other university tasks, of $2.35 million, which is increased each year by an amount from $50,000 to $150,000.

Hurley exercised an option in 2019 to extend the agreement one year when UConn came under NCAA sanctions held over from Kevin Ollie’s time as coach. In March 2021, Hurley and the university agreed on a two-year extension, which pays $2.9 million through 2027.

Now, about this 2023 tournament run:

Hurley’s contract gives him the option, starting in 2022, of extending the contract by one year at the 2027 compensation level with a Sweet 16 appearance, and two years with a Final Four appearance. So Hurley has earned the right to extend through 2029. The contract cannot be extended more than five years by this clause.

In addition, there is a schedule of annual performance bonuses for the program’s academic and on-the-court results. UConn has not won a Big East regular season or tournament title under Hurley, so those bonuses (up to $100,000 each) are not in play.

But in making the Final Four, Hurley has qualified for a bonuses of $200,000, and will claim an additional discretionary bonus of $100,000.

The bonus increases to $250,000 with a win in the semifinals and $400,000 with a national championship. A win in the semifinals adds $50,000 to his Final Four bonus, a national championship ups it to $400,000.

With a top 10 finish in the AP or USA Today poll, which is all but certain, comes another $100,000. In total, Hurley can earn up to $700,000 in athletic performance bonuses, and he figures to come close to that.

Of course, each year and round of coaching changes tends to raise the salary bar, and this year is no different. Last week, Ed Cooley moved within the Big East from Providence to Georgetown, and his contract is reportedly worth $6 million per year, which could be a consideration in any future talks between Hurley and UConn.

In the meantime, the run to the Final Four as a member of the Big East will add millions to the UConn athletic department. The Big East, which placed five teams in the Field of 68, four reaching the Round of 32, three the Sweet 16 and two the Elite Eight, will earn 15 “tournament units,” as defined by the NCAA, which doles out revenue to the conferences based on performance. This amounts to about $30 million in extra revenue paid out over six years, the strongest revenue stream since the Big East was reformed in 2013. The Big East earned 13 units in 2022. UConn joined the conference in 2020.

Given UConn’s athletic budget shortfall, $53 million in the last fiscal year, the money will help close the gap. The program missed the tournament three years in a row between 2017-19, and there was no tournament played in 2020 due to the pandemic. UConn had first-round exits in 2021 and 22, so this is a piece of the financial pie that has been missing over the last decade.