At a special meeting earlier this month, the Kansas Board of Regents voted to approve adding language to its existing policy governing the fiscal and business practices of athletics departments and other affiliated corporations of universities — hereby requiring the board's approval before any private equity deal can be formally pursued.
“We do have a lot of critical short-term financial issues in terms of athletics, but we want to make sure, of course, that does not jeopardize anything that we should do long term,” Regents chair Alysia Johnston said during the meeting, as reported by Bryan Richardson of The Topeka Capitol-Journal.
The policy states that a university must inform the Board of Regents “before engaging in material discussions that are likely to lead to a proposed transaction, agreement, or arrangement.”
“All contracts and agreements between a university athletic department or athletic affiliated corporation, and a private equity or venture capital entity must be approved by the Board prior to execution,” the policy states.
The Regents refined the policy after a Sept. 24 special meeting when universities’ attorneys indicated that the initial draft could’ve been applied to more situations than the board intended. Approval of the policy change came Oct. 9.
The provision specifies that it doesn’t apply to coaches’ contracts, conference agreements, “revenue sharing,” or name, image and likeness agreements with student-athletes.
While the Big 12 Conference and certain members have been on the leading edge of private equity in athletics, the Oct. 9 provision slows down the potential process in Kansas, according to Richardson, who reports that the University of Kansas and Kansas State, along with other Big 12 schools, have not accepted money it could have from the conference’s deal with RedBird and Weatherford.
