PE will not own part of the league. They will not be a majority or operating partner in any NFL franchise. 10% cap on any team. The teams owned by old families, like the Maras and Rooneys are unlikely to go there. More likely to see it come into play during sale of a franchise, when the sale price is multi billion dollars. ** Edited by PadrosWindup at 7/14/2024, 9:24:56 AM

Private Equity, not a bit. But - it certainly doesn't hurt to give it a look, because the NFL was that last major pro sports league that does not have PE involved. It appears that that is about to change.

Hundreds of Millions? Maybe a Billion? That is one big payday split 16 ways plus the Big-12 front office taking probably two more shares if like the SEC. So probably 18 splits. Then the NFL is going to expect a good return on their investment ever single year. Where is that money going to be taken from to pay the NFL those yearly dividends? ** Edited by WarHog38 at 7/13/2024, 6:02:22 PM

think many think they will just split up the money 16 ways, and I think nothing could be further from the truth. If a school needs money like that, they can do their own private equity deal, and it would have nothing to do with the conference. There are now active discussions with FSU and Clemson in the B12, or at least they have been reported. There are also reports of uneven distributions for FSU, Clemson, and even ND. If any of those reports are true (not saying they are), then it could make sense. If the b12 were to get one or both of those schools - AND have the money to lure them, the nest media deal, playoff lookin, and a host of other factors could very well make it worth it to the other schools. There is no way any ACC institution will take less money to keep FSU and Clemson - The B12, or misfits, or truck stop conference (whatever you name them), could very well roll the dice to see if they can position themselves as a third place "P" 3. The bottom 6 of the ACC (new additions included), will not attract the media money the ACC currently gets. If you lose 3, the ACC will not get the money either - in the playoff look in, or from ESPN. You guys are twisting yourselves in a know trying to position the ACC as the better conference, when all of your energy should be focused to being in the "P3". It's just an opinion I'm evolving to, not one that I have held.

the Big12 will ever be a legitimate "power conference" going forward is just as delusional as people who think that the ACC will be a power conference in 10 years. In football games and in life there are winners and losers. The SEC and B1G are the winners and the Big12 and ACC are the losers. And private equity isn't going to change that.

If you really believe the current SEC/B1G are going to be the power brokers at the end of all this I have a bridge to sell you. If you think all of these left out states are just going to allow their state universities to be forever lost to some B league is laughable….all this is FAR from over, you have only seen the beginning.

you are dreaming. big media knows the product they want to dominate and that is what is going to happen.

It seems it is more about casual TV viewers and those using the sport as a carrier of bets than sports competition, amateur or semi pro

Everything is available somewhere, and even ODAC fans can watch every game live SOMEWHERE, and they do. No sports media entity cares about attracting fans. Fans will always seek out and watch their teams' broadcasts, no matter how obscure the forum. The sports media entities covet the casual eyeballs, including gamblers.

It's maddening to keep hearing people talking about a radical restructuring of the landscape. The SEC and B1G will fight tooth and nail to preserve the status quo and their enormous advantage over everyone else. The only way it changes is in court.

** Edited by ancient alien 2018 at 7/15/2024, 1:15:40 AM

** Edited by neworleanshoo at 7/14/2024, 12:11:00 PM

in a million years would I have thought it would be the B12, but it appears that the only way to jettison the weak viewer schools is through expansion, not contraction. There will be a competitive 3rd conference, as the P2 will not expand much, if at all, for now. This player compensation thing needs to be worked out before we consider a break away league, and it is just too convoluted to assume we will have an AFC and NFC type of business model - yet.

You just made the statement “the only way to jettison the weak viewer schools is through expansion, not contraction”. Clearly, this means expand the SEC, B10 and B12 to effectively jettison Wake Forest, BC, Duke, GT, Syracuse, SMU, Cal and Stanford. (Duke technically not a weak viewer school, just a bad football brand) But, what if it the statement is tweaked… “jettison weak viewer schools through expansion, THEN contraction”? If it’s possible to expand the P2 AND Big XII to contract the weak ACC schools, then it also must be possible for the P2 to THEN expand to 48, in the process taking the best of the Big XII to contract the weak Big XII schools. Yes, there are weak B12 schools that can be jettisoned. Let me explain with an example. Washington State and Oregon State were the first schools to be “jettisoned” from the Power Football conferences. Not Wake Forest. Not BC. Not Duke. Oregon St and Washington St are large state schools with great fanbases, but none of us batted an eyelash when they were ‘jettisoned’. “Oh gee, that sucks for them. They’ll be in the Mountain West, but their fans will get used to it” But why didn’t the Big XII add them? Their fanbases fit perfectly alongside Texas Tech, West Virginia, Iowa State, and Kansas State. Misfit toys, right? Honestly, I’m not asking in an inflammatory tone or anything like that. I respect your opinions more than most on this board. But why aren’t Washington State and Oregon State good adds for the Big XII if K State, Iowa St, TT are necessary pieces of a Power Football conference? What’s the difference? On September 23rd, 1.5M people watched Oregon St and Washington State, while 500k watched UCF and Kansas State, and yes 300k, watched VT and Marshall. (God, we sucked in that game). They were on different networks at different times, and the schools all had different quality seasons going, but Oregon State and Wash St are capable of delivering worthy TV ratings just like Iowa State, or Cincinnati or Arizona. So, why aren’t Oregon State and Washington State in the Big XII now? Why were they first to be jettisoned? Answer? Because they aren’t relevant for power football legitimacy. This is the Big XII’s stance first and foremost, because they could have added them, but chose not to. They’re the clear #2 football school in mid sized states. The Big XII didn’t want them. The Big XII wanted Arizona and Arizona State and Colorado. And if the Big XII decides Washington State and Oregon State aren’t necessary, where does that leave the peers of Wash State and Oregon State who reside in the Big XII? Well…maybe Iowa State isn’t necessary. Kansas is necessary, sure. But maybe Kansas State isn’t necessary. Texas and aTm are necessary. Texas Tech? Penn State is necessary, but what about Pitt? If the Big Ten gets Utah, who cares about BYU? Was anybody watch Colorado before Prime? They will be ‘jettisoned’ if the P2 truly breakaway. And they will receive the same non-batted eyelashes that Washington St and Oregon St received. Yes, they have hundreds of thousands of fans whose viewership may be affected. But the collective fans of the 48 schools in the P2 (if it breaks away, it needs 48) are quite possibly all it needs. Look, I’ve accepted that the ACC is going down. The Pac 12 has already gown down. You have to at least entertain the possibility that it doesn’t stop there.

made are far above my pay grade. WSU and Oregon State would have been stellar teams in the truck stop league. Frankly, I thought they would be added, but somehow, Utah and the Arizona schools were on the table If FSU, Clemson, and USC had looked at this differently, the ACC would be a different conference. They could have added KU, and a few others in the B12 when they were available. I don't know why that didn't happen. The PAC should never have imploded. It changed the dynamic over night. I don't like any of these moves, but no one is giving us a choice.

NFL is exploring the option of allowing PE to take minority stakes in NFL franchises(still discussing maximum percentages and other rules) and the OP is saying the Big 12 may go the PE route as well. There is obviously cash available but, the questions are what will the strings look like and what is the math?

the Big 12 that the SEC and Big Ten will do the same and that revenue gap will remain or even get wider since the P-2 conferences have more to sell. This private equity thing could also be a bust too. An economic recession like 2008-2009 could pop up any time.

this is akin to the question, why do you play a freshman? Because you have to. Why do you invite PE in? Because you have to. While you never say never, it seems the need, at least at present, for the P2 to invite PE is not necessary, even if it works for the Big 12. People hear the NFL is considering it and instantly think if they use it why not us? However, it is really dependent on need and in the NFL's case with ever increasing franchise value PE is likely a partial ownership exit/entrance strategy rather than an operating capital need strategy.

negotiations, and the commissioner has given comments on it. While whatever the NFL does won't have a direct correlation to the B12, or any collegiate conference, bot FSU, and the B12 have made comments that they are considering PE. Until we get more info on what the B12 would do with such money, it would be unwise to compare them to the NFL, or any of the other pro leagues that have PE ownership - and it's ALL of the the pro leagues. Like the court case going on, we just do not know how this ends up.

.more reading to make sure you have an accurate understanding. The interview Goodell gave to NBC News on July 11, 2024 said they were considering allowing up to 10% ownership stakes AND they hoped to have rules finalized by October which doesn't sound like active negotiations.

Read over the OP too quickly, this PE topic has been discussed several times previously here. I think PE is just a method to raise quick large sums of cash. Could be termed just a big expansion to the advertising structure that has advanced across sports for decades. However I think this new fangled angle crossed the line into corruption. Reeking of potential corruption is why it has waited until 2024 to rear it's ugly head. Right along with revenue sharing and totally unregulated NIL. College uniforms will no longer mostly denote a state university, they will look like the psychedelic paint job on a race car.

their version of the NASCAR hat dance with helmets that should be funny. ;-)

in the middle of casual conversation sentences? "Brought to you by Carl's Jr."

one is a wholly owned for profit business while the other is a quasi public multistate partnership. I don't think anybody including PE is quite sure how that might work.

value of the B12 over the billion dollars over a reasonable period of time, and unless the get a ND (which i don't think will ever happen), it's a stretch to see what they see that the rest of us do not.

PE has a host of questions they ask structured in tiers and tailored to the business/industry they are exploring. The first tier are questions designed to make a decision whether a deal is worth looking at and the subsequent tiers drill further and further down into deal specifics with one common question at the end of each tier. Do the answers to this point warrant continuing investigation and pursuit of the deal. The first tier involves size of commitment, potential return on investment and method of principal recovery and deal exit alternatives. Each subsequent tier asks similar questions in greater detail surrounding operations, finance, industry status and uncertainties, etc.. These guys allocate resources to pools on a broad scale and then evaluate individual opportunities. Sports is clearly a current industry of interest.

school can leave a conference and what happens to their grant of rights. I wouldn't count on PE money to save the BIG12 anytime soon.

that is a misconception. Currently, the B12 has a decent media contract, guaranteed playoff money, and last i checked, schools are still trying to get into the B12, and I don't know of any that want to leave. That doesn't mean that any would turn down an invite to the Big 10 or the SEC, but currently, like it or not, they are in a very strong position to position themselves to be a worthy competitor of the P2. Maybe not in the viewership numbers, but they will certainly hold their own on the field and the court. The excitement in flyover country is deafening.

It is a combination of schools that are not having to compete with the P2, and schools who are really already or will be way more minor players in their own areas because of P2 competition. And before you go off thinking this is just a slam on the B12, the ACC is in the same place. I believe there will be enough of a quantity of football needed to where the big media will need more content than the P2 has teams but I do not believe it will be the big media that comes on campus and produces this "minor" content. Everybody but the P2 will be scrambling to produce and provide content to the media for distribution for those "minor" timeslots.

that recruiting moving forward will be any different than it has been? The top blue blood programs have been getting the best players since the beginning of time. Honestly, what has really changed? Now they are discussing roster limits. That will allow more players to filter down. Do you think that all of a sudden that an Indiana or Mississippi State will get those players just because their schools make more media money? The pessimism is astounding. You, and others, really do believe that if you aren't in the P2, it's all over but the crying. I've never been more optimistic - the blue bloods will beat each other up, kids will want to play for a winner, and Ohio State only has so many spots. Playing time, not money, will be the most important thing for these kids, like it has always been. A kid on a TCU squad will get a LOT more exposure than an Illinois or South Carolina kid if they make another run - and they have a better chance now than they did before. It's incredible to me how negative some are. The game is changing, but the sky is not falling. VT has a much better chance of making a run in the playoffs from a non P2 conference, than they would in one of the P2's. You should be excited, unless VT becomes a Washington State - and that isn't happening.

the BIG12 until it happens.

conference. FSU and Clemson are in court, not because of anything the B12, or her fans have done, but because of the P2 and the networks. I still contend that the B12 is lucky in timing and geography, so there really isn't anything to brag about. The NFL going to PE is just another red flag that may bring down college athletics, and as you know - there are a lot of changes going on. How the B12 and ACC emerge from this mess will be important for competition moving forward. At this point, it has nothing to do with the B12 and ACC, but between the two, there could be an answer. BTW, I don't care what they call the new B12 - they can call it the ACC or PAC as far as I am concerned. I just want the same thing for my school as you want for yours, and it's very possible our schools could be playing a regular season game in the future. If that happens, your darn right, I will be bragging from the roof top.

You may be P3 but it's going to be a huge gap to the first two.

what it is called? P3, P2-, G5+ the operating reality is the same and that pig is still the same no matter how much lipstick might be applied.

For the National Title. Remember, Texas, Oklahoma, and USC were already making MUCH more money than their conference foes, and already had athletic budgets far above their former conference foes. They will find a way to complete, and at least the B12 is looking at alternate avenues like naming rights to generate more revenue. VT and K-State as an example, will never make as much money as an Ohio State or a Texas - no matter which conference they are in P2, ACC, B12, or some hybrid Allstate conference. So ya, it doesn't even matter what they call the 3rd conference.

more than a billion in PE money to close the projected gap between the P2 and the ACC or Big 12.

at anytime.

TCU, Utah, Okie State come to mind. TCU maybe the only school that entered the P5 and kicked ass. Prior to the Big 12, they beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and mopped the floor with Utah in the Mountain West. Should have been in the 1st CFP. Beat Michigan in the CFP 2 years ago but this got overshadowed by the whipping in the final. Utah has the national respect with hardnose football and has been to Rose Bowls. Others could emerge. Baylor was becoming a brand under Briles.

and will squelch anything that gets in the way of the P2. Big media has not invested and manipulated this realignment to allow a 3rd conference to soil their plans. IMHO the schools you mentioned excepting Utah will lose ground at an increasing level to the SEC schools.

firms need to know before investing.

Maybe each school has to have a contract with the PE that they aren't leaving for a number of years? If so, then there are damages, like a GOR? Sounds like a mess

anyone else happens? B12 would be getting money based on a higher value than you would have when heavy payments start? Think about it. If the SEC is all that, they will improve the positions of Texas, OU and TAMU in Texas and Ok to the detriment of the B12 schools. That and just the full national pushing of the P2 vs the regional pushing of the B12. Then what happens? You do know that many of those more risky "venture capital" ventures ending up just as I am describing. It may work, it looks promising before you are on the hook but when the growth you would need has to come through big media who have already picked their winners and the ACC and Big 12 aren't it, that is a problem.

In that case he’s on a different reality than yours. So…they can’t intersect.

As for PE$, I don't believe you can just talk about PE proceeds without adequate risk analysis when the payback time comes. Do we really want to see PE asset recovery managers carving up a conference?

by the ACC, B12 or anybody else.

They have more money than God. Harvard and Yale could beat the dog **** out of the top SEC and BIG teams if they wanted to jump in.

two sharks probing one another. The Big 12 and PE are a shark and a minnow getting ready to sit down to dinner. You can figure out which one is which.

be headed in regards to sports, and college athletics particular. The questions are if the B12 will pull the trigger, and what they intend to do with $1B + or -. I think it will have a direct effect on conference realignment, and that implies a direct effect on the ACC. One can speculate on what that might be, but it certainly appears that we are headed down that path.

weird does that sound - but it's certainly a possibility.

Even if the Mag7 left, Duke, Wake, BC, Syracuse will remain. And having over a billion dollars of settlement money means that league can invite who it wants as opposed to having to break up. Gonzaga? UConn? Villanova? San Diego St? If going PE is what it takes for the Big XII to make its attempt to add FSU, Clemson, Miami and Louisville, then it’s worth it for the Big XII to shoot its shot. Given all that, it is my ‘opinion’ that FSU and the B1G have already made their agreement. (And that’s been my opinion since back in 2023; it wasn’t formulated in the past 24 hours by reading this board.)

I would think that there would be more TV $ in the Mag 7 + the best of the B12 in a new league that would be a legit peer of the SEC/B1G than FSU/Clemson in a bloated B12 that doesn’t come close to matching the P2.

I can’t see either of those two ever allowing themselves to be associated with the B12. Also, FSU had a very publicized hissy fit (I watched a good chunk of it) and made it very clear their goal was to get into a P2 league. So unless this new merger league or a PE backed B12 is going to pay FSU in the ballpark of $75M more than FSU is on the hook for in exit fees per annum to the ACC, then I don’t see FSU going anywhere other than the B1G or SEC. **Some of my views expressed here are opinions and are not intended to be taken by anyone as facts**

Like CalFord. If they wouldn't go to the B12, then they wouldn't go to the SEC.

UVA and UNC would have an option to stay with Wake, BC, Duke, Syracuse, GT. And if they stayed, it’s highly likely that VT and NC State stick with them. Given that, it’s then highly likely Pitt and Louisville stay. So, no, my opinion is it’s either P2 or ACC-lite for UNC and UVA. Because it’s my opinion that UNC is the lynchpin for the ACC to crumble, not FSU nor Clemson,

snobbery gets pretty tiresome, especially when all of these institutions, including VT, exist to excel in academics.

The P2 would be viewed by most colleges (admins, boards, alums) as superior athletic conferences to the Big XII and ACC. UNC and UVA would feel their schools’ athletics belong with the elite. I in the other hand feel VT would exist fairly well in a Big XII that included WVU, Louisville, NC State, Miami, GT, etc…. I’d certainly hope VT could be in a league that paid out more than any other conference but I think a sure-fire 3rd Position Big XII is a solid option

the direction but, pointing out the likely strengths of the parties involved. Just to be clear, the shark/minnow contrast applies to in a host of collegiate scenarios.

the case. I think what I'm trying to say is that I would like to read the boards opinion on the subject more. It's a very interesting and compelling development, and would be worth more discussion - because as you know, there is quite a spectrum of opinions on this board.

the one I told but, the reply from the CEO when queried on why he turned to PE is interesting. His reply was "because the Mob wasn't interested." I was just offering my opinion, not negating the trend.