PAC12 Got Screwed

[old_gregg]

Sounds like a preferred stock structure. I'd think it would be more attractive to a hedge fund than private equity. PE firms aren't the first investors that come to mind in a buy and hold investment. At least a hedge fund might look at it as a recession hedge play.

there's tons of pe action in growth equity with minority pref/debt structures similar to venture deals right now, but they typically require some contractual control rights to avoid the incentive problems that come along with being a minority. they also have some liquidation event on the horizon. sounds like both of those are off the table here. maybe summit or general atlantic takes a flyer, but it doesn't make sense to me on its face. that's a lot of equity to tie up for a 6% coupon.

[cowboy]

there's tons of pe action in growth equity with minority pref/debt structures similar to venture deals right now, but they typically require some contractual control rights to avoid the incentive problems that come along with being a minority. they also have someliquidation event on the horizon. sounds like both of those are off the table here. maybe summit or general atlantic takes a flyer, but it doesn't make sense to me on its face. that's a lot of equity to tie up for a 6% coupon.

This isn't my area of expertise, but the two bolded points are what had me hung up. PE seems big on control and exit strategies. I texted a good friend this morning who is in PE and was a Ute undergrad. I wanted to see what he thought and maybe rub it in just a tiny bit that everything wasn't coming up roses in the PAC, pun intended. He was baffled by the whole thing.

[wapiti]

A better idea is for the conference to expand and put spots 13 and 14 up for auction. They would add content/value and get paid to do it. Would BYU pay $200M to get into the PAC 12? It's worth it if it comes with a long term commitment from the original PAC 10 members to stay in the conference (yeah, we don't care if Utah or Colorado leave).

[Uncle Ted]

A better idea is for the conference to expand and put spots 13 and 14 up for auction. They would add content/value and get paid to do it. Would BYU pay $200M to get into the PAC 12? It's worth it if it comes with a long term commitment from the original PAC 10 members to stay in the conference (yeah, we don't care if Utah or Colorado leave).

Utah and Colorado should be talking to the Big 12 if they were smart... Of course, the Big 12 is not going to take Colorado back so they should just expand with BYU and Utah.

[YOhio]

Fixing the conferences broken brand.

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/20...ken-brand.html

[Uncle Ted]

Fixing the conferences broken brand.

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/20...ken-brand.html

The Pac-12 has more than a broken brand problem...

Another Season Comes and Goes While Pac-12 Struggles to Keep Up
[...]
For the third time in five seasons, no Pac-12 team made the College Football Playoff. The conference had just three entrants in the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament, and all of them bowed out in the first round. Former athletic directors publicly criticized the league office for being out of touch. There was even a report that a conference official inappropriately intervened in a video replay review during a crucial football game.
[...]
As the other four power conferences, especially the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference, have struck lucrative media deals to infuse their members with revenue in recent years, the Pac-12 has failed to keep up. That’s despite a footprint that includes four of the country’s 15 largest media markets, including the second-largest, Los Angeles.
[...]
“Short term, we’ve fallen behind,” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said in an interview in December. “There’s no question about it.”


Without the same financial resources as their competitors, many Pac-12 colleges have struggled to compete when it comes to hiring the top coaches, building the glitzy facilities and recruiting the star players that yield greater success.
[...]
Salaries for the Pac-12’s head football and men’s basketball coaches lag those of their peers, according to USA Today’s databases. In football, Washington’s Chris Petersen, the best-paid coach in the conference, is 19th over all; four conference head coaches make less than Louisiana State’s defensive coordinator does. In basketball, where salaries generally are smaller, league head coaches are paid more competitively, although big names in the A.C.C., the Big Ten and the Big 12 tend to make more than their counterparts in the Pac-12.
[...]
Over all, the network and its affiliates are in about 19 million homes nationwide, according to SNL Kagan, a business research firm, compared with 59 million for the SEC Network and 51 million for the Big Ten Network. Revenue follows accordingly; the Pac-12 Network generated about $2.75 million for each of the conference’s colleges last year, while Big Ten schools received around four times as much.
[...]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/s...owl-pac12.html

[Jeff Lebowski]

Heh.

Embedded Tweet

[YOhio]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...edium=referral

[SeattleUte]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...edium=referral

Schadenfreude is not an admirable quality.

[Topper]

Schadenfreude is not an admirable quality.

Here's a book for you. Pelagius can give you an executive summary.

https://www.amazon.com/Schadenfreude.../dp/1250077575

[YOhio]

Schadenfreude is not an admirable quality.

Sorry SU it's human nature nothing I can do!

[SeattleUte]

https://people.com/sports/ucla-gymna...-the-internet/

[myboynoah]

Fake news. Jimmer broke the internet years ago and it has never recovered.

[Pelado]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/02/...ign=socialflow

Midway through their seventh year, the Pac-12 Networks aren’t merely stagnating. They’re shrinking in reach and drastically underperforming revenue expectations, according to information obtained by the Hotline that sheds unprecedented light on the financial realities of the conference’s wholly-owned media company.

“We’ve go to get eyes on the product,’’ Washington State coach Mike Leach said. “It’s about exposure and money, and you don’t have one without the other.’’

On a relative basis, the Pac-12 Networks don’t have much of either.

[YOhio]

Another article on how the PAC12 isn't any good at anything though the author misses out on the main point that everything sucked after they added Utah.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-fo...compete-on-it/