Combat Engineer
Varsity Lurker
- Joined
- May 16, 2019
- Messages
- 29
It's a long article but well worth reading if you have an interest.
"The conversation -- a notably preliminary one -- took place in December 2022. Around a table were venture capitalists and private equity types. The super-rich don't get that way sitting on their assets. They plan. They innovate. They create change; they don't wait for it."
"So, at some point in the conversation, the question was posed: What would it take to "buy" a conference, invest at the base level of college athletics itself?"
"After some noodling, they agreed: $1 billion."
"There's even a conference out there that would be available. You haven't heard of it. Nobody has."
"It resides in the mind of media consultant Patrick Crakes. He was the one speaking with those investors who are beginning to see great potential in reshaping college athletics."
"Take $1 billion and roll up all the best teams into a new conference," said Crakes, who spent a quarter century as an executive at Fox Sports. "The best ones you can find who will go. Four or five from the Pac-12. Four or five Big 12 schools. Four or five from the ACC. Maybe there's a Big Ten or two that comes. You've got a conference."
"The mere fact that it's being discussed -- even in a precursory manner -- offers a peek into the future. College athletics has always been a closed loop. Sure, there are sponsors and NIL, but all of that revolves around a (mostly) for-profit athletic department model married in at least a minor way with an educational model."
"This sort of deal would not only mean third-party influence in college athletics but third-party ownership."
"Since pursuit of this story began, CBS Sports has learned that at least one major private equity firm has shown interest in funding a conference structure."
"Fortune Magazine called the growing number of sports equity investors/owners "alt execs." Mets owner Steve Cohen is CEO of hedge fund Point72 Ventures. New Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, led a group that paid a record $6 billion for the franchise."
"You hire somebody who can assemble a team who can go get this executed," Crakes said. "To get the $1 billion, you've got to have it first. There's a list of 15-20 people like that."
"So, what is going to happen if somebody wants to just buy a college team?" Danielson asked rhetorically. "What would it take? Twenty-five million a year, and in three years, you'd win the national championship? It's like a big shadow sitting out there. It won't be a huge deal if it's Ohio State or Alabama or LSU or USC that does it. But what if this guy decides to do it at South Florida, or, 'I live in Boise. I want Boise to be the national champion. I've got $8 billion.'"
"The biggest issue in any such model is return on investment. Is ROI in college sports measured in championships won, dollars earned or both?"
"The collegiate model itself has been shifting before our eyes for a while. Instead of speculating on the process -- what teams are going where?! -- why not own the process? Instead of evaluating the value of teams switching conferences, just buy the conferences themselves."
"If that sounds radical, get used to it. Slightly more than a year ago, no one would have conceived of USC and UCLA moving across the country to join the Big Ten."
"Maybe all of this should have been predicted almost 40 years ago when the NCAA lost a landmark Supreme Court case. In 1984, the NCAA saw its exclusive iron grip on college football telecasts loosen. Once on the open market, those games became more valuable. That has been reflected in burgeoning media rights deals."
"Now, geography doesn't matter. The Big Ten is about to schlep USC and UCLA athletes 3,000 miles over three time zones. The Big 12 is attempting to be the first Power Five conference with teams in four time zones."
"Venture capital opportunity awaits. Realignment may just be starting."
www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/third-party-influence-may-soon-shake-foundation-of-college-football-impacting-conferences-programs/
"The conversation -- a notably preliminary one -- took place in December 2022. Around a table were venture capitalists and private equity types. The super-rich don't get that way sitting on their assets. They plan. They innovate. They create change; they don't wait for it."
"So, at some point in the conversation, the question was posed: What would it take to "buy" a conference, invest at the base level of college athletics itself?"
"After some noodling, they agreed: $1 billion."
"There's even a conference out there that would be available. You haven't heard of it. Nobody has."
"It resides in the mind of media consultant Patrick Crakes. He was the one speaking with those investors who are beginning to see great potential in reshaping college athletics."
"Take $1 billion and roll up all the best teams into a new conference," said Crakes, who spent a quarter century as an executive at Fox Sports. "The best ones you can find who will go. Four or five from the Pac-12. Four or five Big 12 schools. Four or five from the ACC. Maybe there's a Big Ten or two that comes. You've got a conference."
"The mere fact that it's being discussed -- even in a precursory manner -- offers a peek into the future. College athletics has always been a closed loop. Sure, there are sponsors and NIL, but all of that revolves around a (mostly) for-profit athletic department model married in at least a minor way with an educational model."
"This sort of deal would not only mean third-party influence in college athletics but third-party ownership."
"Since pursuit of this story began, CBS Sports has learned that at least one major private equity firm has shown interest in funding a conference structure."
"Fortune Magazine called the growing number of sports equity investors/owners "alt execs." Mets owner Steve Cohen is CEO of hedge fund Point72 Ventures. New Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, led a group that paid a record $6 billion for the franchise."
"You hire somebody who can assemble a team who can go get this executed," Crakes said. "To get the $1 billion, you've got to have it first. There's a list of 15-20 people like that."
"So, what is going to happen if somebody wants to just buy a college team?" Danielson asked rhetorically. "What would it take? Twenty-five million a year, and in three years, you'd win the national championship? It's like a big shadow sitting out there. It won't be a huge deal if it's Ohio State or Alabama or LSU or USC that does it. But what if this guy decides to do it at South Florida, or, 'I live in Boise. I want Boise to be the national champion. I've got $8 billion.'"
"The biggest issue in any such model is return on investment. Is ROI in college sports measured in championships won, dollars earned or both?"
"The collegiate model itself has been shifting before our eyes for a while. Instead of speculating on the process -- what teams are going where?! -- why not own the process? Instead of evaluating the value of teams switching conferences, just buy the conferences themselves."
"If that sounds radical, get used to it. Slightly more than a year ago, no one would have conceived of USC and UCLA moving across the country to join the Big Ten."
"Maybe all of this should have been predicted almost 40 years ago when the NCAA lost a landmark Supreme Court case. In 1984, the NCAA saw its exclusive iron grip on college football telecasts loosen. Once on the open market, those games became more valuable. That has been reflected in burgeoning media rights deals."
"Now, geography doesn't matter. The Big Ten is about to schlep USC and UCLA athletes 3,000 miles over three time zones. The Big 12 is attempting to be the first Power Five conference with teams in four time zones."
"Venture capital opportunity awaits. Realignment may just be starting."
www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/third-party-influence-may-soon-shake-foundation-of-college-football-impacting-conferences-programs/
