Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[upstater]

It reminds of Chicago selling their parking meters to a private entity. They sold them for 1.5B or something like that….15 years into the 75 year deal, the equity company has made back the initial sale, plus $500,000,000 and Chicago is destitute.

Going to be amazing when the Big Ten announces that Ohio State and Michigan are playing four times a year because Fahad AlSaif wants his money back.

This is how it is all over the world.

I did a thorough history of the Greek financial crisis a while back and it was Goldman Sachs deal that sunk them. GS fronted them a bunch of money for currency conversions that reduced their deficit from 3% to 1% (on paper, because the EU stats office deliberately doesn't count certain liabilities as debt). Then GS took a ballon lump sum payment of $10b right when the 2008 crisis was kicking in, and their deficit skyrocketed to 10%+. Ironically, Greece didn't even need to do the deal since they were under the 3.5% budget deficit threshold required to convert to the euro. They just wanted to look better and curry favor with the EU countries who eventually voted them in. And the biggest catastrophe for them is that with a strong currency, light manufacturing fled the country.

This was an "everything went wrong" dance with private equity.

#1. Crap deal with private equity
#2. "Creative accounting" to make the books look good
#3. Strong currency makes businesses close and a lot of job loss
#4. Worldwide financial crisis means no one is going to buy your bonds

 

[uconnric]

ESPN doesn't care about UConn. I don't understand why the State of Connecticut puts up with it. Having them here has resulted in only bad outcomes.

Because they are a major employer?

 

[CL82]

Any item owned by the entity, in this case the U of whatever, would be state owned. No?

Yup, but I'm pretty sure they can encumber future revenue streams, because they do that right now, just to a lesser extent.

 

[ZooCougar]

Everytime I open this thread I'm reminded of how two California teams and a Texas team are in the Atlantic Coast Conference and we are not.
It's just incredible. Especially when the power broker is sitting right in our backyard this whole time.
It would have been nice if when decidng to extend it, ESPN could have found a way to roll us in somehow. Alas.

They don’t want us. It’s so simple.

 

[KryHavok]

They don’t want us. It’s so simple.

I can't like this post enough. For anyone advocating or hoping for the all cretins crew to take us, it's never going to happen...doesn't matter that ESPN resides in CT, doesn't matter we shared historical rivalries, doesn't matter we share similar educational culture...in my head I see that conference as the Always Cancels Connecticut because this is what they've done for 13 years, the buzzing of flies has more importance to them than us. Private equity can find value in us, doesn't matter insofar as that conference is concerned (hopefully it's a different story for the Big 12). Despite what ESPN recently announced for the cretins, it's akin to a band-aid on a severed femoral artery and eventually they will bleed out their upper teams to the P2. I don't like independence for our football team (yes, our schedule is better now than in the AAC, but having something other than pride to play for would help), but it's better than pathetically pining for some partner who just isn't into us. With that said, I'm declaring for the need of key tweet or a piece of key lime pie.

 

[noeynox]

They don’t want us. It’s so simple.

I've wanted UConn to look into the Big12 going back to when WVU got in and Sue Herbst was saying publicly that putting athletes on a bus to Ames, Iowa was a bad idea.

Not because I loved the idea, but because the ACC has always been the girl that is just not into you. We were obviously the best fit in every sense and have been passed over repeatedly. When they take Cal, before you, you just gotta say fluck em.

Big12 or bust.

 

[ZooCougar]

I've wanted UConn to look into the Big12 going back to when WVU got in and Sue Herbst was saying publicly that putting athletes on a bus to Ames, Iowa was a bad idea.

Not because I loved the idea, but because the ACC has always been the girl that is just not into you. We were obviously the best fit in every sense and have been passed over repeatedly. When they take Cal, before you, you just gotta say fluck em.

Big12 or bust.

The ACC should have went on the warpath and raised the Big 12. Add UConn, Cincy and WVU.

Then they basically do have a de facto Big East merger because they would have had everything from the old Big East that people still cared about.

But as we know the ACC is reactive and petty; also they don’t think strategically and here we are.

 

[CL82]

They don’t want us. It’s so simple.

 

[Fishy]

GOR, possibly? They wouldn't be selling state owned assets, but instead would be selling the rights to future earnings. The only way that would work is if the immediate cash payment had a lower value than the pv of the potential cash stream. (Think JG Wentworth and the purchase of structured settlements.) That's not a huge leap from current GORs which as we've seen from the ACC traded optimized value for certainty and immediate stability.

That is a state-owned asset.

 

[Fishy]

The ACC should have went on the warpath and raised the Big 12. Add UConn, Cincy and WVU.

Then they basically do have a de facto Big East merger because they would have had everything from the old Big East that people still cared about.

But as we know the ACC is reactive and petty; also they don’t think strategically and here we are.

No. What they should have done is add UConn and Rutgers and left the flotsam - UL, WV and Cincy - to the Big 12.

Seal up the east coast, remain a manageable travel league and lock up NYC.

 

[CL82]

That is a state-owned asset.

And yet they have already been transferred on multiple occasions to ESPN, fox, etc. What do you see preventing private equity firms from utilizing exactly the same model and acquiring rights for a term of years?

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

And yet they have already been transferred on multiple occasions to ESPN, fox, etc. What do you see preventing private equity firms from utilizing exactly the same model and acquiring rights for a term of years?

Exactly. There's many ways to set up a contract/licensing deal with a strategic partner - see Learfield, Nike, etc etc.

 

[Fishy]

And yet they have already been transferred on multiple occasions to ESPN, fox, etc. What do you see preventing private equity firms from utilizing exactly the same model and acquiring rights for a term of years?

There’s a difference between licensing and selling.

PE is not licensing, they’re buying.

 

[CL82]

There’s a difference between licensing and selling.

PE is not licensing, they’re buying.

If you extend a licensing agreement long enough, it looks an awful lot like a sale, doesn't it?

 

[Fishy]

If you extend a licensing agreement long enough, it looks an awful lot like a sale, doesn't it?

No.

These are not long deals.

Anyway, there’s a massive difference between a private equity investment and assigning rights to ESPN for a yearly distribution.

 

[CL82]

No.

These are not long deals.

Anyway, there’s a massive difference between a private equity investment and assigning rights to ESPN for a yearly distribution.

Yeah, I'm just not seeing a material impediment to structuring a long term grant of rights purchase. There's no reason why you couldn't make a single payment upfront instead of annual payments in exchange for broadcast rights. If the term were long enough, the payment might be tempting to cash strapped universities.

In any event, you asked how private equity deal could be structured, and I gave you a rough template that could work. Whether that is what actually is being touted, I have no idea.

 

[Stinger92860]

Just want to add, that I never heard about the Chicago parking meter deal, what a disaster.

 

[noeynox]

Just want to add, that I never heard about the Chicago parking meter deal, what a disaster.

LaZ Parking i believe bought those meters. We are familiar with them no?

 

[Patman]

It reminds of Chicago selling their parking meters to a private entity. They sold them for 1.5B or something like that….15 years into the 75 year deal, the equity company has made back the initial sale, plus $500,000,000 and Chicago is destitute.

Going to be amazing when the Big Ten announces that Ohio State and Michigan are playing four times a year because Fahad AlSaif wants his money back.

Oh that would be funny. Or "we are leaving the big 10 today to pursue an independent schedule". That won't happen either.

What's really going to happen is that you'll be charged 10 dollars for breathing ann arbor air because any air passing within the confines of the stadium is copyrighted.

Ok, that won't happen either. I expect advertisements every 5 feet in the parking lot. "Look, kids, you can only play football between the Metamucil ads and the cheez-its light pole... no, not the 2000 flushes pole, I meant the cheez its pole!"

 

[Stinger92860]

LaZ Parking i believe bought those meters. We are familiar with them no?

LaZ owns NYC, lol, yes! What is their share of the deal?

 

[buddy]

Because they are a major employer?

How many of their employees are Connecticut residents and taxpayers? How many are actually at the Bristol Campus? Do they even pay property tax?

 

[Kolumbo]

How many of their employees are Connecticut residents and taxpayers? How many are actually at the Bristol Campus? Do they even pay property tax?

espn has several thousand employees (4,000) living and working in CT. espn is also by far the largest real estate and personal property tax payer in bristol. The economic impact that espn and its employees have on CT is yuge. That said, screw espn.

 

[Ha Who]

How many of their employees are Connecticut residents and taxpayers? How many are actually at the Bristol Campus? Do they even pay property tax?

https://www.bristolct.gov/DocumentCenter/View/46096/GL2023-TOPTENNET?bidId=

 

[Fishy]

Just want to add, that I never heard about the Chicago parking meter deal, what a disaster.

LaZ Parking i believe bought those meters. We are familiar with them no?

No, it was not LaZ - it’s Morgan Stanley and some offshore interests. UAE, etc.

It’s an amazing deal….you absolutely should read about it.

It’s so bad that whenever Chicago has an event like a parade or a rally that prevents people from parking at meters, Chicago has to pay the cost of those meters to the equity company. If they do something like adding bike lanes or introducing bike shares that might result in people using fewer meters, they have to reimburse the company.

Chicago has had to give the company around $100,000,000 in opportunity costs since the start of the contract.

 

[upstater]

No, it was not LaZ - it’s Morgan Stanley and some offshore interests. UAE, etc.

It’s an amazing deal….you absolutely should read about it.

It’s so bad that whenever Chicago has an event like a parade or a rally that prevents people from parking at meters, Chicago has to pay the cost of those meters to the equity company. If they do something like adding bike lanes or introducing bike shares that might result in people using fewer meters, they have to reimburse the company.

Chicago has had to give the company around $100,000,000 in opportunity costs since the start of the contract.

Did they bribe anyone to get this deal?