Private Equity Looking to Buy a Piece of College Athletics
CNBC has a new article looking at an effort by private equity interests to get a piece of the business of college sports.
From the article: “There’s a mad dash for cash in college sports.
Between multibillion-dollar television deals, the institution of the transfer portal and the escalation of NIL —name, image and likeness — deals for athletes, college athletic programs, particularly football, have never looked more lucrative.
Now private equity and venture capital enterprises such as College Sports Tomorrow, Smash Capital and Collegiate Athletics Solutions are looking to buy in, and the schools with the most valuable athletic programs sit in the best position to capitalize.
At the very top of the heap are the schools that excel on the gridiron. According to people familiar with the economics, football generates roughly 75% of athletic program revenue at typical Power 4 schools, which include the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC conferences.”
I can only assume that this also relates to the NIL game. It becomes increasingly hard to believe that big time college athletics will continue to maintain its charitable nature.