I struggle to see how this is a good deal for Big10 schools. It's hard to find exact details of the proposal, but from what I've read this is my understanding:
- Cal Investments is going to pay Big10 Enterprises $2.4B upfront and Big10 Enterprises is going to pay Cal Pension back principal & interest.
- Cal Investments is also going to get a 10% equity stake in Big10 Enterprises.
- Big10 Schools are being asked to extend their GOR from 2036 to 2046.
- The Big10 Conference Office and all participating schools will receive a share of the $2.4B capital infusion.
- Reports are:
- Ohio State, Michigan & Penn State will each receive $190M
- Oregion & USC will each receive $140-$150M
- The remaining 13 schools will each receive $100-110M
Pretty clear
most Big10 athletic departments are:
- Over leveraged,
- Have no experience in cost containment
- Are struggling to pay the House Settlement liability
- Trying to find ways to fund their in-house NIL collective
I am sure I lack a lot of details of the financial transaction and PE is not in my knowledge base, but my questions are:
- Why would the Big10 agree to pay Cal Investments back principal and interest plus give up a 10% equity stake? It's not like there's much risk of Big10 media rights revenue going down and not paying Cal Investments back.
- If Cal Investments was willing to give Big10 Enterprises $2.4B when all 18 schools were in play and is still willing to give the Big10 $2.4B without USC & Michigan- sounds like Cal Investments knows it has plenty of upside (aka they got the better end of the deal).
- If Cal Investments is willing to do the deal, why wouldn't each Big 10 school's Endowment management team be willing to structure a similar deal? Keep the interest & equity in-house per se.
- If USC & Michigan don't participate, can they separately negotiate their own PC deal?
- Sure $110-$190M sounds like a lot upfront, but I imagine most schools will spend that money in the next 5-10 years. So where do the Big10/Little13 schools turn next to fund: Facilities, House Settlement & NIL?
With all the current hand-wringing about the Big10 deal, I fully expect the Big12, ACC and SEC will follow suite once the Big10 has created the template/financial structure. If not at a conference level, then at a University level.