The First College Football Program is About to Welcome Private Equity Into Its Athletic Department

Private equity: a topic that has been heavily discussed in collegiate sports recently, despite being a highly sensitive subject.

The topic of private equity, in layman’s terms, refers to an investment from a large entity or corporation in something that is not publicly traded, and in this case, that just may be a college football team.

On Monday, a massive report broke about the Boise State Broncos, as the team looks to be the first program to enter the private equity sector.

Front Office Sports was the first to report the news, saying, “Boise State is ‘actively considering’ bringing private equity investment into its athletic department, Broncos AD Jeramiah Dickey tells FOS. Dickey expects to have a deal in place ‘within the next six months.’

While there’s nothing wrong with bringing in a little extra cash, that verbiage is pretty vague. What does it all mean?

In all likelihood, Boise State is seeking a partner to invest in the program for a substantial sum of money to help alleviate some of the financial pressures associated with the revenue-sharing era.

In exchange for financial support, the entity would likely receive a percentage of ticket sales, merchandise sales, media rights, sponsorships, and other revenue streams. Still, there’s a lot of risk involved in private equity, which is why the Big 12’s private equity proposal was placed on hold.

Will it work out for Boise State? It’s hard to say, but if nothing else, they’re laying the groundwork for what’s to come as either the first to make a genius move, or a case study in what not to do.