Utah sells to private equity

[THookem]

 

[THookem]

In that spirit:

 

 

[ArizonaLonghorn]

23 minutes ago, THookem said:

In that spirit:

 

 

From the back door with the cash to the front door with the cash ... gotta give him credit for telling the truth LOL

[Rocky P]

32 minutes ago, THookem said:

 

There are going to be so many legal hurdles to clear with this.  They are a public entity, interested to see if the BOR and the State legislature do.

[Thanos72]

Ah, the destruction of college football is almost complete. It’s ceiling with be the USFL. Its floor will be Baseketball. Equity firms and corporate America kill most things.

[FootLaw]

47 minutes ago, Rocky P said:

There are going to be so many legal hurdles to clear with this.  They are a public entity, interested to see if the BOR and the State legislature do.

Utah BOR initially approved moving forward with exploring this option. The interest is there. Curious what the State legislature does (you know BYU is going to object unless they can do the same).

Sounds like the Utah AD would head the Board for the new entity with PE. If control over revenue sharing allocation, school facilities, and school staff (like coaches) remain with Utah as described, this could become real. Apparently, Boise is exploring this option as well.

[THookem]

 

[tsip92]

Why stop at athletics?  Maybe we could convince the State of Texas to sell The University to private equity so that we wouldn’t have to deal with the legislature’s antics.  

[Stuey22]

They single handedly destroyed the PAC 10, now they are shooting for all of college athletics.  Go bigger or go home

[brianb722]

Looking forward to a 18 months from now when they sell it Saudi PIF fund, load it with debt from other random shady companies, and then burn the Utah football program to the ground.

[MJW2327]

17 hours ago, Thanos72 said:

Ah, the destruction of college football is almost complete. It’s ceiling with be the USFL. Its floor will be Baseketball. Equity firms and corporate America kill most things.

Ahh the "private equity is evil" trope

[brianb722]

11 minutes ago, MJW2327 said:

Ahh the "private equity is evil" trope

Yeah the trope of actually paying attention to what happens to industries after PE gets involved or caring about anything other than maximizing shareholder profits at all costs.

[MJW2327]

18 minutes ago, brianb722 said:

Yeah the trope of actually paying attention to what happens to industries after PE gets involved or caring about anything other than maximizing shareholder profits at all costs.

to each their own

Edited yesterday at 03:45 PM by MJW2327

[THookem]

 

[Oldest Horn]

1 hour ago, brianb722 said:

Yeah the trope of actually paying attention to what happens to industries after PE gets involved or caring about anything other than maximizing shareholder profits at all costs.

You do realize PE primarily invests in mature industries where operational changes have the chance to drive returns. PE is not VC. 

[Thanos72]

3 hours ago, MJW2327 said:

Ahh the "private equity is evil" trope

Do a little research. It isn’t a trope. You may be cool with it but objectively it only benefits the PE company. Kills small businesses, has been key with monopolies which results in the centralization of power for a very few. No one should want a few holding the power and money. That’s how oligarchies and fascists thrive. It’s also politically agnostic. It becomes the party of green with very, very few members. Okay, stepping off the soapbox 🤣.

You might support making money as a bottom line consideration but it’s wake it’s pretty well documented. 🤘🏽

[MJW2327]

5 minutes ago, Thanos72 said:

Do a little research. It isn’t a trope. You may be cool with it but objectively it only benefits the PE company. Kills small businesses, has been key with monopolies which results in the centralization of power for a very few. No one should want a few holding the power and money. That’s how oligarchies and fascists thrive. It’s also politically agnostic. It becomes the party of green with very, very few members. Okay, stepping off the soapbox 🤣.

You might support making money as a bottom line consideration but it’s wake it’s pretty well documented. 🤘🏽

Private equity doesn’t inherently “centralize power”; it injects capital and expertise into sectors that are underfunded, inefficient, or financially stagnant. In many industries - sports included - PE has revitalized struggling organizations, preserved jobs, modernized operations, and expanded consumer options.

In sports, PE has grown leagues rather than monopolized them:

• Formula 1 exploded globally after Liberty Media’s investment
• UFC became a mainstream powerhouse after PE-backed Endeavor professionalized its operations
• European soccer clubs stabilized financially when PE firms helped restructure debt and upgrade infrastructure

These aren’t examples of “killing small businesses”, they’re examples of taking underperforming assets and improving them. PE is also high-risk capital: firms only succeed if the underlying business succeeds long-term. They don’t win unless fans, athletes, and the product win too.

PE isn’t automatically predatory; when done right, it brings capital, innovation, and sustainable growth to systems that need it.

Edited 23 hours ago by MJW2327

[Thanos72]

Just now, MJW2327 said:

to each their own

lol. I get what you’re saying but the problem is that this isn’t something one can just say to each their own. We are all affected by things like this independent of our opinion of it. Companies thrive when we look away.

Okay okay. I’ll stop. You caught me at a tough time of the year when earnings start coming out and company profits are sky high while their workers struggle for basic needs and we as consumers pay higher prices for lesser products. 

Be well!

[Thanos72]

10 minutes ago, MJW2327 said:

Private equity doesn’t inherently “centralize power”; it injects capital and expertise into sectors that are underfunded, inefficient, or financially stagnant. In many industries - sports included - PE has revitalized struggling organizations, preserved jobs, modernized operations, and expanded consumer options.

In sports, PE has grown leagues rather than monopolized them:

• Formula 1 exploded globally after Liberty Media’s investment
• UFC became a mainstream powerhouse after PE-backed Endeavor professionalized its operations
• European soccer clubs stabilized financially when PE firms helped restructure debt and upgrade infrastructure

These aren’t examples of “killing small businesses”, they’re examples of taking underperforming assets and improving them. PE is also high-risk capital: firms only succeed if the underlying business succeeds long-term. They don’t win unless fans, athletes, and the product win too.

PE isn’t automatically predatory; when done right, it brings capital, innovation, and sustainable growth to systems that need it.

Nothing is automatically predatory. It’s always the human running it. Ask ufc fighters how they feel. What other company in the US is authentically competitive with the ufc? Kinda my point but I don’t want a Bobby Ban so I’m muting myself. 

[Steamboat Willie]

Private equity isn’t the cartoon villain some want it to be — but let’s also not pretend it’s Santa Claus with a balance sheet.

PE does one thing extremely well: it professionalizes chaos. If an athletic department is already drifting toward employee compensation, revenue sharing, and semi-pro reality, PE just stops the pretending and prices it correctly. That alone makes people uncomfortable, because it replaces vibes with math.

That doesn’t make it automatically good, and it definitely doesn’t make it automatically evil. It means incentives get sharper, accountability gets real, and nostalgia gets evicted. Some fans call that “destroying the sport.” Others call it finally admitting what the sport already is.

The real risk isn’t private equity showing up — it’s schools wandering around in this half-legal, half-amateur gray zone with no structure and acting shocked when something snaps. Utah at least seems to be saying the quiet part out loud and trying to build guardrails instead of pretending 2012 still exists.

No, this isn’t the USFL.
No, it’s not BASEketball.

It’s college football admitting it’s a business — and now arguing over who gets the keys, who sets the rules, and who gets paid first.

[MJW2327]

2 minutes ago, Steamboat Willie said:

Private equity isn’t the cartoon villain some want it to be — but let’s also not pretend it’s Santa Claus with a balance sheet.

PE does one thing extremely well: it professionalizes chaos. If an athletic department is already drifting toward employee compensation, revenue sharing, and semi-pro reality, PE just stops the pretending and prices it correctly. That alone makes people uncomfortable, because it replaces vibes with math.

That doesn’t make it automatically good, and it definitely doesn’t make it automatically evil. It means incentives get sharper, accountability gets real, and nostalgia gets evicted. Some fans call that “destroying the sport.” Others call it finally admitting what the sport already is.

The real risk isn’t private equity showing up — it’s schools wandering around in this half-legal, half-amateur gray zone with no structure and acting shocked when something snaps. Utah at least seems to be saying the quiet part out loud and trying to build guardrails instead of pretending 2012 still exists.

No, this isn’t the USFL.
No, it’s not BASEketball.

It’s college football admitting it’s a business — and now arguing over who gets the keys, who sets the rules, and who gets paid first.

Amen

[Thanos72]

6 hours ago, Steamboat Willie said:

Private equity isn’t the cartoon villain some want it to be — but let’s also not pretend it’s Santa Claus with a balance sheet.

PE does one thing extremely well: it professionalizes chaos. If an athletic department is already drifting toward employee compensation, revenue sharing, and semi-pro reality, PE just stops the pretending and prices it correctly. That alone makes people uncomfortable, because it replaces vibes with math.

That doesn’t make it automatically good, and it definitely doesn’t make it automatically evil. It means incentives get sharper, accountability gets real, and nostalgia gets evicted. Some fans call that “destroying the sport.” Others call it finally admitting what the sport already is.

The real risk isn’t private equity showing up — it’s schools wandering around in this half-legal, half-amateur gray zone with no structure and acting shocked when something snaps. Utah at least seems to be saying the quiet part out loud and trying to build guardrails instead of pretending 2012 still exists.

No, this isn’t the USFL.
No, it’s not BASEketball.

It’s college football admitting it’s a business — and now arguing over who gets the keys, who sets the rules, and who gets paid first.

Give it time. It’d be great if I’m wrong. What was the usfl? Wealthy guys trying to buy the best players and it was a farce. Baseketball was mostly supposed to be funny. 
Pricing correctly? Rarely but let’s leave it there.

Appreciate the thoughtful reply. 

[Steamboat Willie]

I’m not here to canonize private equity. Nobody’s confusing Bain Capital with the Peace Corps. But comparing PE in college football to the USFL is kind of like comparing a restaurant remodel to a meteor strike. Same universe, wildly different stakes.

The USFL face-planted because a handful of billionaires tried to cosplay NFL owners overnight. Private equity doesn’t do cosplay. It does spreadsheets, leverage, and “please sign here so we can fire half your department.” Good? Bad? Depends whose ox is getting gored.

What PE does reliably is take systems already drifting toward semi-pro reality and say out loud what everyone else is whispering:
“You people are running a nine-figure entertainment product with the governance structure of a church bake sale.”

That’s why this is happening. Not because PE is noble — but because college football created a vacuum big enough to pull in capital, lawyers, and consultants like a tractor beam.

Will they get it right? Maybe. Will they price things “correctly”? Only if you think “correctly” means “in a way that maximizes returns and occasionally detonates traditions.”

But here’s one place we definitely agree:
Give it time — because nobody breaks things faster than private equity except college football trying to “fix” itself.

[Oldest Horn]

15 hours ago, Thanos72 said:

Give it time. It’d be great if I’m wrong. What was the usfl? Wealthy guys trying to buy the best players and it was a farce. Baseketball was mostly supposed to be funny. 
Pricing correctly? Rarely but let’s leave it there.

Appreciate the thoughtful reply. 

The irony of all this is PE deals go wrong when the overpay, not underpay.