Downtown Hartford and UConn: more fiscally friendly than you think

February 11, 2023 4:08 pm • Last Updated: February 11, 2023 4:11 pm

By Mike DiMauro
Day Assistant Sports Editor

In the pantheon of bad first impressions, there is the weak handshake, dressing like an unmade bed, halitosis … and then new UConn president Radenka Maric, who may not have completely decorated her office yet before throwing down with Gov. Ned Lamont.

Maric, responding to Lamont’s challenge to adjust overall appropriations to the state’s public colleges and universities, told a UConn journalism class that if Lamont’s new plan does not sufficiently placate State U, she’ll consider pulling sporting events from the XL Center.

“I was telling the governor, if there is a cut that I have to do, I’m not going to put the cuts on academic quality, I will do the cuts and make the decision to pull out of the XL,” Maric was quoted as saying in The Daily Campus, UConn’s student newspaper.

Perhaps President Maric should retire to her parlor and open a copy of “How To Win Friends And Influence People.” Put it this way: She’s either getting bad advice from her public relations troupe, needs a new public relations troupe or should count to 10 (or in this case 2,500) before speaking.

Fact: UConn’s presence in Hartford isn’t going anywhere, unless politicians turn renovation of the XL Center into the modern day Route 11. Many UConn fans offer a dismissive wave to Hartford games and blithely suggest playing all the games on campus. But this comes at political peril.

UConn's participation in playing games over the years at the XL Center has come mostly through unwritten rules. It keeps the downtown business owners happy and is politically astute. Good relations between UConn and lawmakers means favorable appropriations.

Fact: UConn fans have been duped into thinking that playing games at the XL Center is financially impractical, given the rent and other fees the school must pay for each event. The opposite is actually true, per Mike Freimuth, head of the Capital Region Development Authority, which oversees the XL Center.

“In light of various comments from UConn about expenses at XL, consider a simple example,” Freimuth said, alluding to the numbers from the graphic that accompanies this column both in The Day’s print version and on theday.com.

“For men’s basketball, consider the average of 10,000 fans at XL at the average ticket price of $35. That equals $350,000 with a cost at the building of $40k in rent and $35k in game day expenses. That still means a net earn of $280,000.”

Freimuth said expenses for UConn athletics at the XL are as follows: hockey $29k per game; men’s basketball $75k and women’s basketball $65k. Meanwhile, the approximate gross ticket sales per game per sport: Hockey, $37k; men’s basketball, 308k and women’s basketball 175k.

Consider the UConn men’s basketball home game at the XL Center Dec. 28 vs. Villanova. The game was announced as a sellout (15,564). Actual tickets sold came to 11,858 at an average ticket price of $38.93. That’s a gross revenue of $461,666. And who, again, is telling Maric that leaving Hartford is a good idea?

“Now it’s fair that there may be some transportation/hotel expenses to the program for XL,” Freimuth said. “But let's not forget there are 80,000 UConn alumni within 30 minutes of XL, three campuses in Hartford (Law, Business and Regional) and the corporate sponsors that are downtown. Without digging too deep, XL also pays $225,000 to UConn each year for its IMG sponsorship deal and UConn fees are maxed at the XL per existing contract for all three sports at $1.8M. Somehow, they've come up with $4M per year.”

But then, faulty math and fiscal follies are nothing new at UConn, given the overall athletic budget deficit of nearly $50 million.

If nothing else, though, Maric’s comments may encourage politicos to get off their ascots and finally do something about downtown’s crumbling grande dame.

What began some years ago at $250 million to renovate the building has been downsized to a taxpayer-funded $100 million (although that could be rising), lessened mostly through what Freimuth calls a “lower bowl strategy.” It is designed to “shrink” the XL to around 11,000 seats for certain events, while also preserving the upper bowl capacity to reach 16,000 by using a special walling system.

It’s a good faith effort to assuage at least some financial burden.

“Should the XL plan go forward there are two general impacts on UConn sports,” Freimuth said. “First, more revenue due to better seat/suite options, concessions and a change in the revenue sharing. Second, a reduction in games, with those booked being events connected with larger attendance games, as well as time of year when campus is closed.

“Hockey is probably going to settle at 5-6 games now that the new (on campus) facility is operational and the basketball teams between 10 and 12. The net result is larger attendance games, better revenue streams and more games on campus, especially for those early season non conference games.”

I’ve found it difficult since Lew Perkins left as athletic director to get a straight answer from anybody within UConn athletics about anything. The narratives are spun creatively. Lest a few of the latest creations fester into fact, consider Freimuth’s cold, hard facts.

Hartford and UConn are a good marriage — politically astute and fiscally friendly, despite more expenses. Maric’s threats are idle and politically obtuse. The numbers suggest as much. And so does common sense.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro