Naming rights and private equity in NCAA conferences? | College Football Enquirer

Yahoo Sports senior college football reporter Ross Dellenger, national columnist Dan Wetzel, and Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde dive into the commercialization of college sports, most recently with possible commercial names for conferences. Hear the full conversation on the “College Football Enquirer” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Video transcript

Welcome to the commercialization of uh the, the full commercialization of college athletics.

All the rules uh to legislate competitive equity in college sports are falling including the rules that uh cost containment rules that handcuff um schools and conferences from um earning additional revenue through these sorts of things.

Um And, and all those rules are starting to fall.

So as we discussed, I think a couple of weeks ago, right, the, the first kind of, I guess one of the first um forays into this would post the settlement was the NC A allowing uh corporate logos to be on football fields.

So that's coming as well and there's gonna be other stuff, right?

This is, there's no end in sight on what uh what you can, you can black paste on a uh stadium field conference name.

I can't summon much outrage on this one.

The names of the conferences haven't made any damn sense for years.

Uh The big 10 went to 11 in the nineties and kept going from there and still called themselves.

The big 10, the big 12 has 16.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is on the Pacific Coast as well.

So you know, I, I can't get too weepy about, uh, the traditions that are attached to the names of the conferences.

Go ahead and sell them especially.

I pointed out last week if it's going to keep people from cutting sports, if this is whatever money needs to be brought in, if, if the alternative is, well, you know, we don't have enough money.

So we're whacking sports, I'd say, go ahead and sell the field, sell the jerseys, sell the name of the conference.

Give me the Wendy's Bacon or Big 10.

I don't care.

The league that held on to the purity.

The best was the PAC 12, which was the PAC 10, right?

And I mean, you pack eight, then they went PAC 10.

Now they did add Arizona and Arizona State which are not technically on the Pacific, but let's not, you know, let's not get too carried away.

It's pretty close.

And then they went to PAC 12 when they added Utah and Colorado.

Those were not, but, you know, close enough, close enough and guess what?

That got them.

They don't exist anymore.

You know, that one of the things that Big 12 was doing also is is exploring the private equity uh situation.

Well, Pac 12 had a chance to do that.

If you guys remember like 1012 years ago, they had a chance to get a lot of money fast by entering a private equity deal.

And, uh and they decided against doing it.

Uh, presidents were, um, um, a little apprehensive of it and, and presidents still are, by the way, I, I don't, I don't know, you know, if you got these two things, the Big 12 is looking at naming rights in private equity.

Naming rights has way more support, I think within the league to, to do than the, the private equity, um, route.