Private Equity Coming To College Athletics

[UpstateSM]

Enjoy the next few years of college sports because it is all about to be irreversibly ruined.

 

[orangenauburn]

Hopefully SU has produced some strong alums in this field and can get ahead of this

 

[zjscuse]

that are just going to turn it into nfl light while
All the vampires suck off the money tap. I’m done watching at that point.

 

[Toga]

Minute Maid's Syracuse Orange brought to you by Snappy Grillers.

 

[UpstateSM]

that are just going to turn it into nfl light while
All the vampires suck off the money tap. I’m done watching at that point.

Yupp. Genuinely, if a lower level of "major" college athletics survives below this inevitable bs I hope that Syracuse stays in that.

If I wanted to watch minor league sports, I would watch minor league sports. I don't mind college athletes getting paid, whether NIL or revenue sharing, one bit but I'm out once the team's only affiliation with a school is a massive licensing deal.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

PE is the woooooooooooorst.

 

[RandomGuy]

I'm in the minority, but what if private equity cast a LARGE net, to get as many schools involved as possible? More eyes = more $$. Haves/have-nots could leave a lot of earning potential unrealized.

 

[KellySyracuse]

Private equity has ruined so many established brands, ugh

Weber Grills was bought by a private equity firm a few years ago and while Weber tried to hide it from the public that firm now owns all of the shares. Keep your old grills for as long as you can, the quality going forward will certainly not be the same. And good luck with customer service, I can say my experience with them 2 years ago was an exercise in futility.

 

[Ringostar57]

How much is your athletic department really worth? How many shares at say $10 a share? Growth potential?

 

[DPCuse]

I was going to post this the other day but I know someone who works in another ACC athletic department and he said they are looking at models for Private Equity investment. Don’t know how it will work exactly but it’s percolating.

 

[Orangepace]

Enjoy the next few years of college sports because it is all about to be irreversibly ruined.

Hey hey now.. only like 95% of them are bad.

 

[Orangepace]

Co

Hopefully SU has produced some strong alums in this field and can get ahead of this

Cough cough.. Carlyle Group..

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

The issue PE might have (I know nothing about it) is Title IX. They can’t just decide to drop woman’s sports if they are not profitable.
Colleges should spin off FB and license it to PE firms, who pay royalties to the schools ADs. That will be used to fund the other sports.

 

[DPCuse]

The issue PE might have (I know nothing about it) is Title IX. They can’t just decide to drop woman’s sports if they are not profitable.
Colleges should spin off FB and license it to PE firms, who pay royalties to the schools ADs. That will be used to fund the other sports.

I think they take this private. They can do what they want. It’s basically pro sports and for profit.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Gerry Cardinale is just talking his own book as he looks to fundraise more. They need more assets to buy and the sports investment space is getting more crowded. He wants deals in college but doesn’t mean it’ll happen.

Plus they don’t need PE help to consolidate media rights deals. The second a PE firm gets involved with higher ed, you will see massive issues with Congress, endowment funds, their investors, etc. The for profit education industry already has PE involvement and it’s caused massive issues. Investigations and much more. No way it happens in a Direct way with college athletics.

Sports and teams are an attractive asset class for rich people because they’re also huge tax havens. It has as much to do with estate planning as anything else.

 

[cusefan88]

Not a fan. For some of the other newhouse grads who post/lurk - there are many reasons for bad local media in our country, but PE buying local papers, stations, etc and gutting them has contributed to the poor media literacy we see today. Whoever said vampires, yes.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Not a fan. For some of the other newhouse grads who post/lurk - there are many reasons for bad local media in our country, but PE buying local papers, stations, etc and gutting them has contributed to the poor media literacy we see today. Whoever said vampires, yes.

It's the playbook.

Strip down the operation to the skeleton and maximize profit.

Product and service quality go out the window. Say goodbye to innovation.

Maybe (almost always) saddle the company with debt. Push the button to make money come out.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I think they take this private. They can do what they want. It’s basically pro sports and for profit.

If it’s attached to colleges and scholarships, Title IX would apply, I would think

 

[MamesJungro]

Probably would be around assets that surround college sports: stadiums, food service, databases/software. Anything where they can find efficiencies and charge it back to Universities.

Hell I'm sure someone is currently developing AL/ML software that inputs huge amounts of analytic data and generates game plans optimized for the scheme, players' strengths etc

 

[qdawgg]

It’ll be interesting how this would play out. Unlike the NFL, most CFB teams and athletic departments operate in the red. Not really an ideal scenario for private equity to get involved. Except with very specific teams; like Alabama, Michigan, etc.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Probably would be around assets that surround college sports: stadiums, food service, databases/software. Anything where they can find efficiencies and charge it back to Universities.

Hell I'm sure someone is currently developing AL/ML software that inputs huge amounts of analytic data and generates game plans optimized for the scheme, players' strengths etc

Agree completely.

 

[David321]

Isn’t that the guy that invested a bunch of money into the XFL? The same league that had to merge with the USFL and we still don’t know any details about the unified league?

 

[shandeezy7]

Isn’t that the guy that invested a bunch of money into the XFL? The same league that had to merge with the USFL and we still don’t know any details about the unified league?

Good job consolidating though. Consolidated the leagues into a force so strong that it imploded.

 

[UpstateSM]

Gerry Cardinale is just talking his own book as he looks to fundraise more. They need more assets to buy and the sports investment space is getting more crowded. He wants deals in college but doesn’t mean it’ll happen.

Plus they don’t need PE help to consolidate media rights deals. The second a PE firm gets involved with higher ed, you will see massive issues with Congress, endowment funds, their investors, etc. The for profit education industry already has PE involvement and it’s caused massive issues. Investigations and much more. No way it happens in a Direct way with college athletics.

Sports and teams are an attractive asset class for rich people because they’re also huge tax havens. It has as much to do with estate planning as anything else.

People really, really deep in the weeds of college athletics adamantly disagree with you. It seems inevitable, to me.

 

[Sherman20]

Enjoy the next few years of college sports because it is all about to be irreversibly ruined.

So many of the developments with college athletics in recent years, from NIL and the portal to neverending conference realignment, are turning off a lot of the longtime fans. These universities are supposed to be not for profit entities. Instead the athletic conferences have turned into cartels and schools like Harvard have become giant hedge funds. It’s all pretty gross.