Report: Big 12 Nearing Deal with Private Firms to Raise up to $500 Million

Brett Yormark and Co. are reportedly edging towards a deal that would bring serious cash to Big 12’s schools.

Big 12 brass is nearing an agreement with RedBird and Weatherford Capital on a deal that would bring in up to $500 million, according to a report by Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger,

With all the unknowns in college sports — like the ever-changing landscape of NIL, soaring coaches’ salaries and the uncertainty around the future of media rights — conferences are looking outside the box to create revenue. A deal like this, the first of its kind, could go a long way in shoring up the conference’s teams financially.

According to the report, this would be a three-prong deal that could be finalized in the coming weeks. It would provide the league with opportunities including RedBird infusing millions into the Big 12 office, offering roughly $30 million in a credit line to each school at a reduced rate and a strategic business plan for the league moving forward. The Yahoo! article examines more of the nuts and bolts of the deal.

RedBird is a New York City-based investment management firm has been connected with all sorts of ventures including Fenway Sports Group (which owns Liverpool FC and the Boston Red Sox), the UFL, Skydance Media and several other interests.

Weatherford Capital is a private investment firm based out of Tampa, Florida with various partners and specializes in business-to-business investments, especially in the tech and sports sectors.

“To date, the RedBird ecosystem has delivered over $145 million of contracted revenue to the Big 12 and its member institutions,” the Big 12 said in a statement to Yahoo! Sports. “This partnership would provide the Conference with a world-class strategic and capital partner, while preserving 100% of the member institutions’ equity in the Big 12.”

While this would be the first deal like this with a major college sports conference, it is not the first ever or the first attempted. Big 12 program Utah finalized a similar deal with Orto Capital earlier this week. According to the report, this new Big 12 deal would not affect Utah’s deal.

The Big Ten attempted a similar deal which was blocked by USC and Michigan, and the SEC is also working with Goldman Sachs on a deal. To that point, all members of the Big 12 would have to sign off on the RedBird/Weatherford deal for it to go through.