Utah partnering with a private equity firm.
- Thread starter DesotoCountyDawg
- Start date
Their total wealth globally is approx $300 billion.
This estimate breaks down roughly as: $206 billion in investment holdings (stocks, bonds, private equity) roughly $87 billion in land, real estate, buildings (churches, temples, schools, welfare farms, properties globally).
Ensign Peak holdings, based in Utah, is their investment arm in the US and a couple years ago it was stated that they had around $16 billion in real estate holdings alone. The dollar value of their holdings are skyrocketing higher every year.
My brother-in-law works for them in Harmony, FL. They have an incredible operation there. Thousands of acres. They hire biologist to manage the property where they raise beef, lease property to hunters and grow crops. A hunting lease is over $10,000 for each hunter and they have over 100 hunters each year. Since he has worked there they ha e had 2 State grads work there. They are great stewards of the property..
Don't know if the Catholic Church is wealthier, but I do know they own more land and real estate than the U.S. Government.
I figure they’ll still be required to have some connection to the university…starting QB Joe Schmo, a 6th year employee of the landscaping department.
Private equity ruins industries. They squeeze every dollar out of it and move on.
This is the way. Build a war chest that works 24/7, grows asset value and kicks off income with dividends.
I am trying to make sense of this.
Looking at Knightnewhousedata.org. Utah athletics has operated about break even since joining the PAC12. A little gain some years, a little loss in others. So, I assume the PE thinks they will bring some business expertise to all this and increase profits? I am not sure how with the looming player salary expense on this years books.
From Utah's perspective seems like pawning the family land in order to pay off a debt that will re-occur every year. You will owe your brand and all revenue to the pawn broker and never have the expense satisfied.
However, what do I know........maybe these PE guys find new revenue streams. However, half of their approximately $120M per year expenses are coaching and staff compensation and "Other expenses". The revenue is mainly conference/NCAA money, corp sponsorship, donor donations and ticket sales.
BTW, Mississippi State revenues are very close to Utah's. $127M. We have a larger conference revenue and donor contributions but less in corporate sponsorship.
Looking at Knightnewhousedata.org. Utah athletics has operated about break even since joining the PAC12. A little gain some years, a little loss in others. So, I assume the PE thinks they will bring some business expertise to all this and increase profits? I am not sure how with the looming player salary expense on this years books.
From Utah's perspective seems like pawning the family land in order to pay off a debt that will re-occur every year. You will owe your brand and all revenue to the pawn broker and never have the expense satisfied.
However, what do I know........maybe these PE guys find new revenue streams. However, half of their approximately $120M per year expenses are coaching and staff compensation and "Other expenses". The revenue is mainly conference/NCAA money, corp sponsorship, donor donations and ticket sales.
BTW, Mississippi State revenues are very close to Utah's. $127M. We have a larger conference revenue and donor contributions but less in corporate sponsorship.
Ok, again trying to understand how a PE would make money off an industry that is about to be bankrupt.
So, the PE is going to use their money to invest in assets and give those profits to the school in exchange for what...... all future Athletic department profits? plus naming rights?
I guess the PEs believe there is still money to be made even with coaches salaries continuing to climb and now the added expense of players salaries.
It will be an interesting marriage to see how wins and losses balances with profit. If a football team can generate a higher profit margin going 3-9 than they do with the expense to get to 9-3, then that’s going to be the kicker. And PE generally owns to flip and turn a profit, so will they be in it for the long haul or looking to turn a quick dollar?
This is actually what needs to happen. 68 P4 teams, 32 NFL teams. Each team has 3 schools. Teams own the player in the school. Only down side would be the draft. I would love to root for the Saints if it was all State players. The synergy has huge upside. College loyalty would join an already rabid NFL fan base.
The answers to what you seek are within the thread already.
What if the PE investors weren’t super concerned on whether the investment made money….just that it didn’t lose a huge amount of money? What if the PE was just a shell for an endowment to pay huge sums of NIL annually without having to have that money pulled directly from individuals? What if any losses from the “investment” provided huge tax benefits to the firm?
From all of the above, what if there several very wealthy and successful Utah boosters that are highly positioned within this firm?
Its an interesting thought that if college football turned into unaffiliated minor league football, would it lose most fan support and funding? So, the only way to make minor league football profitable is to keep it tied to colleges to maintain fanbases and funding. Otherwise, minor league football would just turn into something like minor league baseball (but a little more popular).
MSU has a higher donor contribution? Wow, that is wild.
For corporate sponsorship, I would far prefer MSU selling space on the courts and fields to sponsors instead of a Saudi prince owning the Athletics Dept(which at least one person in this thread views as 'cutting edge' and a no loss option).
"Sanderson Farms - feeding MSU fans for over 70 years."
"Ingalls Shipbuilders - keeping MSU fans safe."
"Ingalls Shipbuilders - dedicated to growing Mississippi since 1938."
"Cal-Maine Eggs - feeding MSU fans at every meal."
"Buc-ees - the official shitting stop of MSU athletics when down on the coast."
"Buc-ees - where MSU fans go to eat Beaver Nuggets."
If MSU cant land those corporate sponsors, then go local! Flood stadiums and arenas with local sponsors from Starkville-
- "Starkville Cafe - Official old local cafe that hasnt been deep cleaned this century of MSU Athletics."
- "George Sherman Clothiers - Selling overpriced menswear to MSU students and fans since 1973."
- "Bin 612 - Official ok but not memorable local Cotton District restaurant of MSU Athletics."
- "Reed's of Starkville - Providing quasi-trendy but safe clothing to white established middle-class MSU fans."
- "The Little Dooey - Official controversially loved local BBQ joint of MSU Athletics."
Might sound crazy but there are people who have left the church simply because the church invests tithing money. I don't care what they do with the money, but I remember when I was a little boy and we needed a new chapel the members of that ward had to raise 1/2 the money through donations and the church paid the rest. No loans were allowed. The members of that ward had to raise the money. Now if any ward, branch or stake needs something the church just pays for it. If investing tithing money enables the church to run more efficiently, do it. It's not like the President of the church, or any other leaders are pocketing the money. They don't pay. Our President who died a few months ago died rich. He did not get one dime from the church. He was a retired heart surgeon.
Otro Capital
Or could be it’s just an avenue for sports figures to get engaged and tinker with something I suppose. As a group they’ve never been the most savvy investors.
Hers is a list who bought into their formula 1 venture a couple of years ago:
Otro Capital Welcomes New Strategic Investors Into Its €200 Million Investment in Formula 1 Team, Alpine Racing Ltd
Today, Otro Capital announced the addition of some of the top professionals in the sports industry into its investment group in Alpine F1:
- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, two-time NFL MVP and two-time Super Bowl MVP.
- Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs tight-end, eight-time consecutive NFL Pro-Bowl and two-time Super Bowl champion.
- Rory McIlroy, four-time golf major championship winner and currently ranked #2 in the world. Rory invested through Symphony Ventures Capital, a partnership that supports innovative companies in healthcare, technology, and sports.
- Anthony Joshua, Olympic boxing gold medalist and two-time former unified world heavyweight champion.
- Trent Alexander-Arnold, England international soccer player, Champion’s League Champion, and Premier League Champion with Liverpool F.C. (UK).
- Juan Mata, professional football player, World and Euro Cup winner with the Spanish National team. Ex-Manchester United and Chelsea legend. Co-Founder of the organization, Common Goal.
- Roger Ehrenberg, founder of Eberg Capital, investor in the Miami Marlins and Real Salt Lake.
The addition of these championship winning international athletes and sports investors will bolster Otro Capital’s strategic partnership with Alpine F1, combining premium expertise across different areas of the sports ecosystem and driving Alpine F1’s reach to a world of new fans.
I don’t think Troy Aikman will be buying in any time soon.
NFL legend fed up with NIL after getting burned by UCLA transfer
The Dallas Cowboys legend revealed in a podcast appearance he's "done with NIL" after an exchange gone wrong at his alma mater, UCLA. Aikman says he cut a "sizable check" to a player only for him to transfer after one season. To make matters worse, the player didn't even reach out to Aikman after jumping ship.
"I didn’t even get so much as a thank you note," Aikman said on the Sports Media Podcast. "So, it’s one of those deals, to where I’m done with NIL. I want to see UCLA be successful, but I’m done with it.”
NFL legend fed up with NIL after getting burned by UCLA transfer
The Dallas Cowboys legend revealed in a podcast appearance he's "done with NIL" after an exchange gone wrong at his alma mater, UCLA. Aikman says he cut a "sizable check" to a player only for him to transfer after one season. To make matters worse, the player didn't even reach out to Aikman after jumping ship.
"I didn’t even get so much as a thank you note," Aikman said on the Sports Media Podcast. "So, it’s one of those deals, to where I’m done with NIL. I want to see UCLA be successful, but I’m done with it.”
Load it up with debt. Take distributions. Get out. It'll go bankrupt, but won't be your problem. Repeat somewhere else.
I can understand his frustration. It's not much solace, but at least his alma mater got one season out of the guy.I don’t think Troy Aikman will be buying in any time soon.
NFL legend fed up with NIL after getting burned by UCLA transfer
The Dallas Cowboys legend revealed in a podcast appearance he's "done with NIL" after an exchange gone wrong at his alma mater, UCLA. Aikman says he cut a "sizable check" to a player only for him to transfer after one season. To make matters worse, the player didn't even reach out to Aikman after jumping ship.
"I didn’t even get so much as a thank you note," Aikman said on the Sports Media Podcast. "So, it’s one of those deals, to where I’m done with NIL. I want to see UCLA be successful, but I’m done with it.”
Imagine how people felt in past years, putting money into *cough* "NIL" for specific players, but then those players committed elsewhere and never set foot on State's campus again. I 'member.
The quicker this current setup crashes and burns, the better. Hopefully we can get back to having actual college football. I have a feeling though that the sport is going to be permanently damaged by all this mess.
IF the Mormon church is so rich.....
And IF the Mormon church is a big donor to Utah, thus meaning Utah is flush with cash.......
Uh.....then I guess the obvious question is......
Why is Utah looking at PE?
Yeah, I'm pretty ignorant about PE but I can't imagine they would invest in something, let it ruin, and then bail when they lost all their money. That sounds 17ing stupid.
This isn't Goodfellas, where they can partner with a guy, steal everything illegally until the guy goes bankrupt, light a match and collect insurance. This is actually investing. If the business they invest in ruins, they get ruined too. Or at least their initial investment does. Maybe once they've made their money back they will bail, but in that case, they didn't ruin it, the previous model did.
Someone tell me in simply terms if I am wrong.
Sounds like more old men mad that players are getting paid. And I get that, I hate NIL. But that 2021 decision is what made that happen, not PE. I mean in a way all these donor are just PE who don't mind losing. At least PE will demand that a team win and raise revenue. Am I missing something?
I'm not just going to be a sheep say 'PE baaaaaaad'.
I don't know why people in this thread are talking about the Mormon Church and Utah. Utah is a public university. The Mormon Church's university is their hated rival, BYU.
This punter keeps a lot of his technique close to his vest, but we can expect some booming punts. He has an explosive leg and we can expect to average 9-11 more yards per punt with him.We do have an islamic punter coming in next year…
Agreed on all those possibilities. Because sooner or later, the nostalgia of good ole Alma Mater will wear off when you are writing 7 figure checks every year.
Therefore I figure before long (and it's probably happening now) people will create a fraudulent line item on the books or an entire shell company or something even smarter and more complex to launder the corporate funds to pay for NIL, under table and suites and etc.
Last edited:
My experience with private equity is that they come in and cut to the bone, grow the business (regardless of whether that new business is profitable or not, as long as they can make it look enticing) and then flip it for a profit.
I manage nursing homes and I tried to get my company to be the official nursing home provider for MSU athletics. Still employed there.
So I just read the article, and, LOL….this is exactly what’s happening. Except it’s even more obvious than I thought it would be.
From the article:
“The project includes a fascinating wrinkle. The university is offering a prominent group of donors the ability to purchase a stake in Utah Brands & Entertainment. Already, university officials have culled a small donor base to generate millions in purchase agreements. The more than $500 million capital figure includes both the nine-figure cash infusion from Otro as well as those capital commitments from donors.
Utah Brands & Entertainment will house most of the components traditionally held within the university’s athletic department, including many athletic personnel and divisions. However, fundraising will remain with the school.”
This is wild…
1) PE buys Utah Athletics and creates new for-profit entity that is still majority controlled by the university - called Utah Brands and Entertainment.
2) Otro and the university sell stake in the new entity to the boosters / donors. Essentially that is where the cashflow is coming from. The PE firm isn’t even really providing any cashflow at the end of the day. This is just a shell game.
3) The control of “Utah Brands and Entertainment” will thus be siloed within Otro, under the control of the boosters and donors.
They are essentially selling the athletic department to the boosters. The PE firm owning / controlling the athletics department isn’t even the end game. They are simply the medium for exchange, because Utah can’t just directly sell the entire department to Cigar Boys Incorporated.
This is 100% a ploy to set up an annuity to pay out tens of millions in NIL annually, with extravagant tax benefits for the donors. Somebody has figured out that this is the cheapest way to keep these funds rolling in.
Looks like there's a 5-7 year exit plan for the PE group (which is kind of how they work). They'll infuse some cash now, take a share of revenues, and then get bought out when the university and/or donors buy back their shares. Classic private equity, except usually the exit is selling to someone else not a buyback. This is essentially a financing deal. I bet Utah's "interest rate" will work out to well over 20% annually.