Most universities in the Big 12 Conference are passing on a groundbreaking private equity loan program that could have provided each school with as much as $30 million in credit, according to a Thursday report from Front Office Sports.
The financing arrangement with RedBird Capital Partners and Weatherford Capital received approval from conference university presidents in late April. Under the program’s structure, participating schools would repay the loans through reduced annual revenue payments from the Big 12.
The investment firms had prepared to distribute up to $500 million total if every school participated, but numerous universities have already announced they won’t join the program. Texas Tech, Iowa State, and Colorado directly told Front Office Sports they’re declining the offer. Local media reports indicate TCU, Cincinnati, Baylor, West Virginia, UCF, Houston, and Kansas State have also decided against participating.
Schools have a full year to decide whether to join the program, and RedBird Capital Partners emphasized this won’t be their only opportunity.
“This partnership is much bigger than just capital to schools — it’s a commercial partnership where RedBird and Weatherford are delivering commercial revenue to the Big 12,” RedBird Capital Partners told Front Office Sports. “We are playing the long game where schools have one year to opt in for when the landscape becomes clearer for the ecosystem and individual needs. It’s not intended to be a one-time offer, it’s a long-term feature of a broader agreement for the Big 12 and their member schools.”
While this marks the first conference-wide private equity agreement in collegiate athletics, similar arrangements have been attempted before. The Big Ten Conference came close to finalizing an investment partnership with UC Investments, the University of California system’s pension fund, in the previous year, but abandoned the plan after several member schools objected.
