SEC’s Greg Sankey: Conference Not Sold on Private Equity—for Now

ATLANTA — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has taken meetings with private-equity firms interested in pumping money into the conference, he said Monday. Still, for now, the league is not ready to make the leap.

“I’ve had those meetings. I’ve had outreach on a continuing basis,” Sankey said when asked about PE by Front Office Sports during his opening remarks at his SEC media days press conference. “They bubble up from time to time. The question: What problem are you trying to solve, and what’s the substance of the solution? What’s the downside? What if you don’t achieve all of those mile markers?”

Sankey said he had a conversation about outside financing ideas with some SEC leaders late last week. “We have been probably two and a half, three years into visits with banks, with private equity, with venture capital,” he said. “I mean, you could go down the range. Private capital, that’s another phrase that’s been used. That’s not been the right direction for us. We’ve not seen the concept that works.”

SEC Not Closing Any Doors

But despite the hesitancy to take PE money, Sankey said the SEC will stay open-minded. “That doesn’t mean we won’t consider opportunities,” he said. “If there are opportunities for mutual benefit, those would pique our interest. But the notion of just jumping to something because there’s a pot of money there seems [like] an uninformed direction.”

Sankey’s hesitancy comes around the potential dark side of taking PE money: “Some of these proposals, you always see the most positive outcome, and when you ask, well, like what’s the downside? What if you don’t hit all of those mile markers? What then happens? There’s not a lot of answers provided,” he said.

Around the Nation

Sankey’s remarks about PE come after Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark in May told FOS that his conference had paused its efforts to bring on a capital partner. “We’re not ready to go in that direction, but we know what the options are out there,” Yormark said.

In June, sports business consultancy Elevate launched a $500 million initiative aimed at bringing institutional capital directly into college sports. Meanwhile, Boise State is “actively considering” bringing PE investment into the Broncos’ athletic department, AD Jeramiah Dickey told FOS last month.