That's what Jon Wilner asks in his recent PAC Hotline column...
Aside from the NFL, I think that other professional sports, like the NBA, MLS, NHL, and MLB, allow private investment at minority levels in their sports...
The SEC and Big-10 don't have to be worried about money, as things now stand, but conferences like the Big-12 need money in order to not be left behind in football and basketball, especially...
So, our Big-12 commissioner - Brett Yormark - is in negotiations with a private equity investment firm to raise, perhaps, a billion dollars for a 20% stake in the conference...
Why would a private equity firm do that..??
From what I can tell, they do it to eventually make money by selling their share to another entity in the not too distant future...
In the past, these types of firms might have been characterized as "corporate raiders" who take over a business only to dismember it and sell off parts to make money, etc...
That isn't happening now as sports (pro and college) have become multi-billion dollar entertainment industries that someone like Walt Disney would really appreciate, if you ask someone like me...
They are growing by leaps and bounds and who doesn't want to watch all the drama associated with chasing things like Super Bowl Championships, Stanley Cup championships, World Series Championships, March Madness Championships, etc...
The list is endless, isn't it..??
And, now college athletics, especially as it pertains to football and basketball, is basically semi-pro in nature and has brought more drama to be witnessed by fans and boosters related to unlimited free agency and million dollar NIL deals, etc...
But, all that dramatic entertainment costs a lot in order to put that viewing content on our television and computer screens...
More importantly for some, like university presidents, all that dramatic action on the playing fields and courts "drives enrollment numbers" that will become even more important as the "great recession," as American fertility rates are in a steady decline, that means that schools won't be attracting as many applicants as they used to do, unless they have something like a high profile football or basketball program helping to sell the school to potential applicants...
So, whether school presidents want to admit it or not, according to Wilner, "no branch of the university is more visible than football and nothing else attracts say 50,000+ fans to watch football games like what happens with that sport"...(my paraphrasing)
As an aside, just look at what has happened at Colorado under Prime Time and how his program has generated both visibility and excitement these days that has driven applicant numbers at the school...
It's show time in America these days and you can either treat it like a great entertainment endeavor or face the consequences like the now extinct PAC did recently...
I wonder, if Walt Disney was still alive, whether he might like to invest in something like the Big-12..??
I'm also wondering, that with enough money, whether the Big-12 could also become the "happiest place on Earth" for us fans and boosters since Disneyland was invented..??
These are are just some of my meandering and sometimes coherent (or incoherent) thoughts (opinions) related to this subject...
Let's hope ASU gets with the program or face an even more uncertain future where a corporate raider could sell us off at a discount because our value stinks...
Go Devils!!!
Aside from the NFL, I think that other professional sports, like the NBA, MLS, NHL, and MLB, allow private investment at minority levels in their sports...
The SEC and Big-10 don't have to be worried about money, as things now stand, but conferences like the Big-12 need money in order to not be left behind in football and basketball, especially...
So, our Big-12 commissioner - Brett Yormark - is in negotiations with a private equity investment firm to raise, perhaps, a billion dollars for a 20% stake in the conference...
Why would a private equity firm do that..??
From what I can tell, they do it to eventually make money by selling their share to another entity in the not too distant future...
In the past, these types of firms might have been characterized as "corporate raiders" who take over a business only to dismember it and sell off parts to make money, etc...
That isn't happening now as sports (pro and college) have become multi-billion dollar entertainment industries that someone like Walt Disney would really appreciate, if you ask someone like me...
They are growing by leaps and bounds and who doesn't want to watch all the drama associated with chasing things like Super Bowl Championships, Stanley Cup championships, World Series Championships, March Madness Championships, etc...
The list is endless, isn't it..??
And, now college athletics, especially as it pertains to football and basketball, is basically semi-pro in nature and has brought more drama to be witnessed by fans and boosters related to unlimited free agency and million dollar NIL deals, etc...
But, all that dramatic entertainment costs a lot in order to put that viewing content on our television and computer screens...
More importantly for some, like university presidents, all that dramatic action on the playing fields and courts "drives enrollment numbers" that will become even more important as the "great recession," as American fertility rates are in a steady decline, that means that schools won't be attracting as many applicants as they used to do, unless they have something like a high profile football or basketball program helping to sell the school to potential applicants...
So, whether school presidents want to admit it or not, according to Wilner, "no branch of the university is more visible than football and nothing else attracts say 50,000+ fans to watch football games like what happens with that sport"...(my paraphrasing)
As an aside, just look at what has happened at Colorado under Prime Time and how his program has generated both visibility and excitement these days that has driven applicant numbers at the school...
It's show time in America these days and you can either treat it like a great entertainment endeavor or face the consequences like the now extinct PAC did recently...
I wonder, if Walt Disney was still alive, whether he might like to invest in something like the Big-12..??
I'm also wondering, that with enough money, whether the Big-12 could also become the "happiest place on Earth" for us fans and boosters since Disneyland was invented..??
These are are just some of my meandering and sometimes coherent (or incoherent) thoughts (opinions) related to this subject...
Let's hope ASU gets with the program or face an even more uncertain future where a corporate raider could sell us off at a discount because our value stinks...
Go Devils!!!
