re: Unconfirmed reports that LSU athletics made a private equity deal.

PE is bad, but…


If true, everyone will hate it but no one will actually stop going to games or watching on TV so all the anger is nothing but performative.

When word of this meeting came out Mascona told everyone it was not PE

[quote]Everyone wants to win championships, but without money in this NIL era you are destined to be behind.

I'd rather be "behind" than watch the athletic department as a whole burn to the ground, and that is exactly what will happen once these firms get their hooks into you. If they start with a 10% interest it will just continue to increase from there. This is the death knell of LSU athletics if true.

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Is there an example of a PE deal benefiting the customer? One?

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Every one of the big Tech companies that are household names (including but not limited to: Tesla, Google, Yahoo, Intuit, AMD, Paypal, etc., etc. etc.). Do some investigating on the Sand Hill Rd., Menlo Park Private Equity firms, that are sources of pre-IPO funding for start-up tech firms to get from idea to implementation of the technology. Private Equity drives technological advancements. Hell, Spaht's firm was instrumental is driving and advancing "block-chain" technology.

Conversely, there are "vulture" PE firms which give the whole industry a bad name and I think that that is what is driving the negative views of a possible deal between LSU athletics and PE.

If this is true, it will be interesting from a tax point of view how this deal shakes out and if LSU athletics and TAF can continue as not for profit entities.

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LSU keeps full operational and athletic control, including decisions on coaching staffs and student-athletes. The PE group merely gets a share of the profits.

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And what happens when the PE firm decides we need to be more budget conscious on coaching salaries or buyouts and roster budgets?

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When word of this meeting came out Mascona told everyone it was not PE

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AYS said the same thing but also it’s about as close to PE as you can get without crossing the line.

Hoping the official press release from LSU about bis doesn’t give me an uneasy feeling like these leaks are doing.

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private equity screws up pretty much everything it touches

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Not always true. Also, “private equity” is extremely vague in this context. The top donors in the network were invited to the governor’s mansion. They weren’t invited for there to be an announcement that some random PE firm came in. My guess is TAF is becoming a PE firm with the financial backing of major donors. Makes WAY more sense than some PE firm coming in and “buying” LSU athletics.

honestly if you’re giving millions to the university i suppose it is nice to get some equity

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I bitch often about this, but I wonder if LSU has any type of master plan for its facilities.

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I can see a situation where PE is used to build a new arena

But general AD ops / NIL money? Absolutely not