Over the past few years, private-equity firms have been able to land very few investment deals in college athletic departments and conferences directly. But that doesn’t mean private equity isn’t deeply entrenched in college sports already.
From multimedia rights holders to NIL (name, image, and likeness) companies, PE has gained a foothold in many of the third-party companies surrounding college sports.
The latest deal involves Learfield, a longtime college sports-focused company that partners with athletic departments to procure sponsorships, media deals, and now NIL opportunities for athletes. On Tuesday, Learfield announced PE firm TPG was taking a controlling stake in the Texas-based company. The deal is worth about $2 billion, a source confirmed to Front Office Sports.
Fortress Investment Group, Charlesbank Capital Partners, and Arctos Partners currently have stakes in Learfield. (Two sources confirmed Arctos’s investment to FOS, which has not previously been reported.) Arctos, a sports-specific private equity fund launched in 2019, was recently acquired by private equity giant KKR. Arctos did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
TPG, the San Francisco-based firm with $303 billion worth of assets under management, once held a controlling stake in agency CAA, which it sold in 2023; in 2025, it launched a sports-focused investment arm called TPG Sports. Once the transaction is completed, TPG will take over the positions of Fortress and Arctos, though Charlesbank will remain.
The news made waves on social media for the historic college sports industry giant’s new relationship with private equity—even though private equity backing isn’t new to Learfield, let alone the third-party companies across the industry.
Learfield has had investors including Shamrock Capital Advisors, Providence Equity Partners, and Atairos Group. In 2018, the brand merged with IMG College, which brought on backers including Endeavor and Silverlake. After a significant restructuring in 2023, Learfield had three backers: Fortress Investment Group, Charlesbank, and Clearlake Capital (which later exited).
“It’s probably more compelling for private-equity firms than some of the alternatives that have been considered with universities or conferences for one big reason,” Learfield president and CEO Cole Gahagan told FOS. “There’s a fairly linear pathway to an exit and generating a return on invested capital with an operating business like Learfield more so than other options in college athletics.”
Across the college sports industry, a wide range of companies have taken on PE investment. Among them: Playfly Sports, one of Learfield’s main competitors; OneTeam Partners, a group licensing company that has done major deals in college sports; and college athlete advocacy group Athletes.org.
Meanwhile, Elevate has made investments in UCLA and Penn State, and Otro Capital has taken an equity stake in the athletic department assets at Utah. In December 2025, the Big 12 confirmed it was finalizing a private capital partnership with Collegiate Athletic Solutions—a joint venture of RedBird Capital Partners and Weatherford Capital—though the deal is structured more as a revenue-sharing agreement than a traditional private equity investment.
The Big Ten was close to finalizing a private capital investment from UC Investments, a pension fund for the University of California system, that would have given UC Investments an ownership stake in Big Ten assets, but the deal fell apart when multiple schools objected.
Conversations across athletic departments remain ongoing about future potential private capital investments or equity stakes. But for now, the easiest way into college sports for private equity investors appears to be through the companies helping these schools navigate change.
“This is a clear example of private equity taking a more direct role in college and youth sports,” Doug Fillis, CEO of college sports consulting firm Accelerate Sports Ventures, said. “There’s a belief among investors that college athletics is still undervalued relative to the demand and attention it generates, and that’s what continues to draw institutional capital into the space.”
