Private equity is coming - Printable Version
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Private equity is coming - BostonCard - 10-11-2025
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bigten/2025/10/10/maria-cantwell-big-ten-presidents-private-equity-deals/86629924007/
I agree with Cantwell here. This seems like the next step in the evolution of “collegiate” sports; a professional league completely disconnected from the academic mission of the schools and only tied to universities by name and home stadium.
Ugh.
BC
RE: Private equity is coming - Giants - 10-11-2025
(10-11-2025, 08:28 PM)BostonCard Wrote: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bigten/2025/10/10/maria-cantwell-big-ten-presidents-private-equity-deals/86629924007/
I agree with Cantwell here. This seems like the next step in the evolution of “collegiate” sports; a professional league completely disconnected from the academic mission of the schools and only tied to universities by name and home stadium.
Ugh.
BC
Per ESPN, the Big Ten is not negotiating with private equity. They are talking to the UC Pension Fund. The deal would result in an $2 billion cash infusion, extend the conference’s GOR to 2046 (thus reducing the likelihood of their inclusion in a “Super League”) and give the Pension Fund a 1/20 share of the Big Ten’s media rights, sponsorships and advertising revenue.
RE: Private equity is coming - dabigv13 - 10-12-2025
Sort of a weird one. Maybe the person who runs the UC pension fund is a UCLA grad looking to secure their place in the B10?
RE: Private equity is coming - OCcardinal - 10-12-2025
I don't know if anyone noticed but our Athletic Director spent nearly 20 years at the management consulting firm Bain & Company, eventually rising to the level of President & CEO. Bain is a major consulting service for private equity, including its nominally independent private equity arm Bain Capital. When they announced Donahoe as AD, my first thought was that Stanford must very much anticipate private equity in its future. However, with these big donations coming in, Stanford may not actually need private equity money. I've heard that first $50M is only a fraction of what Stanford has lined up. If so, Stanford will have donations that should soon exceed the $111M per school that the Big 10 schools are hoping to get in the private equity deal, and Stanford won't have to give up future proceeds in exchange.
RE: Private equity is coming - Treebound - 10-13-2025
If a PE investment is allowed, then I do think there will be real tax ramifications. I'm okay with that as NIL and the transfer portal have professionalized college athletics. That pendulum has swung to far imho. It reminds me of what happened to MLB/baseball with free agency. I think baseball lost some of its lustre when that transition was made. I can still rattle off the rosters of the A's, Giants, Reds and Dodgers from that era.
Perhaps a potential private equity investment is the trigger to blow up the Big Ten and SEC power and move us to a more sane playing field. I'm just not a fan of our student athletes having to fly all over the country to compete. I still want them to be students and enjoy all that Stanford has to offer without missing 3+ days of class on an east coast swing.
RE: Private equity is coming - 82lsju - 10-14-2025
Quote:The Big Ten's proposed $2 billion-plus private capital deal is facing headwinds after a joint meeting Tuesday afternoon between trustees at Michigan and USC led to unified questions about the plan, multiple sources who were on the call told ESPN.
The two schools discussed their shared skepticism during the call. One sticking point: The deal doesn't address the root issue -- soaring costs -- that has made the need for cash so imperative for athletic departments. Just providing short-term money, sources said, does not solve that issue.
The schools also noted pending federal legislation that makes predicting the future of college athletics difficult, as well as a general apprehension at selling equity in a university asset (the conference media rights).
Both Michigan and USC believe there are funding options that can provide superior terms and would like to slow the process and explore them, sources said. The goal, the meeting agreed, should be to help the Big Ten schools that need money but at the most favorable terms imaginable without giving up equity.
Although the questions are numerous, it is not certain how much influence the trustees can yield on the proposal, let alone change or even stop the process.
https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/46597733/sources-usc-michigan-question-proposed-big-ten-private-capital-deal
RE: Private equity is coming - BostonCard - 10-14-2025
Key point: “The deal doesn't address the root issue -- soaring costs -- that has made the need for cash so imperative for athletic departments.”
BC