The gist of this article is that Private Equity is beginning to enter into agreements with top universities from every P5 conference. If name, image and likeness (NIL) applies to the athletes making money in our past amateur sports, how much is the value of a USC, Ohio State, Alabama or even BYU worth as a “Brand?” Considering professional sports franchises are worth $100s of millions or even billions, these universities with their automatic followings have to have some great value that private equity managers have already seen.

So, like the internet stocks of the 1990s and early 2000s, eyeballs will be the determining factor in valuing these brands. BYU should benefit from this dynamic because we have an automatic connection to lots of eyeballs, due to our connection with the church.

The article explains that equity in universities is not for sale, but that “royalty like agreements” are being set up. From the article:

“The idea is that with Cardinale and Weatherford’s capital and expertise, they can help grow the bottom line for athletic departments. Then, when they do that, CAS gets compensated by helping generate those additional future dollars—almost like a royalty, Weatherford says.”

Man, have college sports changed!