The University of Connecticut paid a $2.83 million premium to insure all performance bonuses of its basketball coaches and various costs associated with winning at the highest levels, a move that covered nearly half of what the school wound up paying out this season.
As reported by Mike Anthony of the Stamford Advocate, With the women’s team reaching the Final Four and the men's team repeating as national champion, almost every possible performance incentive bonus was triggered and the total payout was $5.6 million.
“We obviously believed we were going to have a successful season and there were people on this campus who questioned what we were doing,” athletic director David Benedict said, as reported by the Advocate. “I was confident that was the right thing to do, financially and fiscally, for our university and convinced the right people that we should do it. We did it, and obviously that's having a significant impact on our fiscal situation because we saved 2.8 million dollars.”
The policy, secured through Charleston, S.C.-based Game Point Capital, had a total coverage limit of $6.25 million.
“That was insuring basically all of your exposure from a bonus standpoint in men’s and women’s basketball in addition to covering things you don't budget for,” Benedict said. “Like, you don't budget for championship rings or Final Four rings. Maybe we should, at UConn. So we didn't just insure bonuses. We also insured additional costs associated with earning those bonuses.”
"UConn, in these areas, basically cut its expenses in half by marrying itself to a flat $2.83 million payment from its own pockets in advance of seasons of such high expectation," Anthony wrote.. "Game Point Capital, as it turned out, was on the hook for the remaining $2.77 million."
Here's how the bonuses broke down, per Anthony's reporting:
Men’s coach Dan Hurley earned significant bonuses with each step of his team’s dominant season. Among them were $100,000 for winning the Big East regular season outright, $100,000 for winning the Big East Tournament, $100,000 for reaching the Sweet 16, $200,000 for reaching the Elite Eight, $200,000 for reaching the Final Four and $500,000 for winning the national championship.
All in, Hurley earned about $1.8 million in bonuses this season, all built into his six-year, $32.1 million contract. The Huskies finished 37-3 and won a second consecutive national championship with a victory over Purdue April 8 in Glendale, Ariz.
Geno Auriemma, who is entering the final year of a five-year, $15 million contract, also earned numerous bonuses, including a half-month’s pay for winning the Big East Tournament and a full month’s pay for reaching the Final Four. Auriemma made $3.1 million in salary in 2023 — a $600,000 base and $2.5 in media fees, the standard split setup for coaching contracts. The bonuses are based on his base salary, with one month being equal to $50,000.
Assistant coaches on both staffs earn performance bonuses, as well, often one or two months of their salary for certain team accomplishments and academic standards maintained.
“You can imagine on insurance, it's all risk on them,” Benedict said. “The women's basketball risk is different than the men's basketball risk, obviously based on what we've accomplished in women's basketball [11 national championships, for example]. On the men's side, the percentage of teams that have ever gone back-to-back, think about that. The risk [for insurance companies] is minute when you think about how many teams have done it.”
Benedict first considered the possibility of insuring bonuses and associated costs while negotiating Hurley’s most recent contract, which was finalized last summer, Anthony reported, adding that insuring bonuses to the level UConn did is not considered common practice in college basketball. It is something UConn will consider, but not necessarily act on, each season.
“It depends where we get to,” Benedict said, as reported by the Advocate. “If we have to commit to more from a guaranteed standpoint, maybe we don't have to put as much up in bonuses because we're now guaranteeing more. It's a negotiation. We're not close to being done yet. … How many people would put down $2.8 million to cover that risk? And would we do that every year? I don't think you do it if you don't think you have a shot in hell to [win].”
