As Other Power Leagues Shy Away From PE, the Big Ten Continues Discussions

LAS VEGAS — The Big Ten has not closed the door on private equity.

The conference is currently still engaged in conversations to explore how private capital might be best integrated into its business model, commissioner Tony Petitti told Front Office Sports in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

The Big Ten was reportedly entertaining private equity bids in January—but Petitti confirmed that conversations about private capital were still ongoing seven months later. “We’re still thinking about what that could mean in terms of how you would structure something,” he said. “We’re doing work trying to figure out, if we were to build something, what’s the best way to build it?”

It did not appear that the conference had settled on a particular private capital structure or idea, however. And as for a timeline, Petitti noted: “It’s a long way from crystallizing.”

The Big Ten’s continued exploration of how private equity could fit in the conference is significant now, at a time when other power conference leagues have backed off from delving in.

In June a judge approved the House v. NCAA settlement, which requires schools that opt in to pay up to $20.5 million athletes as part of a revenue sharing model. As many schools enter this new era, they are trying to find new and creative ways to boost revenue to cover these additional costs. And that’s where private equity would come in.

Earlier on Wednesday, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips told FOS that his league had explored it, but nothing definitive has come to fruition yet. “Our group is very educated about it, and there just hasn’t been anything that really has made sense for the ACC, similar to others,” Phillips said. “It’s good for us to continue to think broadly and openly and progressively … if you ever got to a place where it made sense, I’m sure somebody would do that.”

At spring meetings in May, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark told FOS that private equity explorations had been paused. “The board’s not ready right now,” he said. “And there’s probably lots of reasons for that. There are so many different things going on right now.” During a subsequent interview at the end of June, Yormark confirmed that was still the conference’s position.

At SEC media days last week, commissioner Greg Sankey said: “We’ve not seen the concept that works.” He did note that he’d be interested in the possibility in the future, if a more appealing concept was brought to his desk.

At the school level, private equity deals are already here. In June, sports business consultancy Elevate announced a $500 million initiative, and said that two schools had signed onto it. And there may be more on the horizon—Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey told FOS he believed that his athletic department would have some form of a private capital deal within about six months.