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Texas Tech billionaire booster and board of regents chairman Cody Campbell has come out vehemently against conferences taking on private equity investments.<\/p>\n
A conference-wide private capital deal goes against \u201call the laws of finance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it makes any sense,\u201d he told Front Office Sports in an interview last week. \u201cYou have a whole spectrum of financial situations inside the conference, so you can\u2019t get everyone\u2019s in the same box.\u201d <\/p>\n
As a regents board chairman, the billionaire oil-and-gas tycoon could have influence on these types of decisions, both at Texas Tech and in the Big 12. His critique is also noteworthy given that he has advised the White House on college sports policy and has launched a major lobbying campaign of his own<\/a>. <\/p>\n To be sure, Campbell himself is a source of private capital as a donor to Texas Tech, but those donations do not come with equity stakes or expectations of repayment.<\/p>\n Campbell cited booster support, loans and borrowed money, and credit ratings as factors that could influence whether a private equity deal would work.\u201cWe have a AA+ credit rating,\u201d he said of Texas Tech. \u201cWe can issue tax free bonds, Our cost to borrow is something less than 3% So why would ever take capital that\u2019s more expensive than that?\u201d<\/p>\n Campbell referenced reports of a Big Ten private capital investment<\/a>, saying he believed some schools in the Big Ten were in a similar position as that of Texas Tech. Big Ten\u2019s deal being considered would take $2.4 billion in capital from a California pension fund<\/a> to distribute to all Big Ten schools, and would give the fund an equity stake in a new entity called Big Ten Enterprises.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy would you try to force it down the throats of all your conference members when they don\u2019t all need it?\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n Campbell did note a private capital or equity deal might make more sense at a school-by-school level: \u201cIf an individual institution and their board wants to entertain deals\u2014by all means, I think they need to do what they need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Some individual institutions have already done so. Sports consultancy firm Elevate has signed deals with two power-conference schools, reported to be UCLA and Penn State<\/a>; both schools denied the reports, but FOS has confirmed with multiple sources that Penn State is one of them. And Boise State is actively considering a private capital investment<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post Texas Tech Booster Cody Campbell Slams Conference PE Deals<\/a> appeared first on Front Office Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n