UConn unveiled it's newest fundraising tool today, UConnBasketballCenter.com a nifty website designed to raise money for -- you guessed it -- UConn's new basketball center. The website features a slick intro video and a lot of lovely promotional videos and renderings that you should check out. But that's not what I'm excited about. No, I'm excited about the fact that UConn published its full menu of prices for naming rights, so now I know that the second one of you freeloaders gives me $10 million the Huskies can start practice in the Andrew Porter UConn Basketball Center.
What's that? Don't have $10 million? Don't worry, there is plenty else you can buy. Five million gets you the rights to the "Champions Plaza," which I assume will be stuffed with trophies, assorted cut-down nets and the tears of lesser basketball coaches. Sound steep? While for $2 million you can grab the slightly less impressive Lobby/Hall of Champions.
For a cool $3 million you can name the men's practice gym. You can't buy the women's rights though, someone already scooped up the name for that (I'd imagine that someone is the Werth family, who donated $4.5 million to the facility. The website lists five things as sold and if you combine the women's gym, the women's locker room and any of the other three the total combined price is $4.5 million).
There is a wide variety of other rooms available from the mundane (sports medicine, $1 million) to the exciting (alumni locker room $500,000). Of course this might seem a bit rich for your blood, but don't worry, UConn has a low-cost option too. For a mere $250,000 (a pittance really) you can name one of the six assistant coaches offices. Just think, for a mere quarter million dollars you could put George Blaney in the Kevin Meacham Assistant Coaches Office. Sounds like a deal to me.
The full list is here. Check it out and share your thoughts in the comments. I'll be interested to see if anyone out there is really interested on blowing $500,000 to name an equipment room.