The Big Ten is on the verge of completing a $2.4 billion capital investment deal with a California pension fund, whether or not USC and Michigan are on board.
Yahoo!’s Ross Dellenger is reporting that the conference is pushing ahead with the deal despite USC and Michigan’s objections. The 20-year, $2.4 billion deal would include an extension of the conference grant of rights for another 10 years. The Wolverines and Trojans do not support the measure, but it may not matter.
From Dellenger’s report:
Each school would receive an average of $135 million each in up-front payments.
Earlier this week, officials at Michigan and USC were informed that if the 16 other member schools agreed to the deal, the two programs would be given a few months' grace period to agree to join the deal and receive full benefits.
California pension fund to invest in Big Ten
The conference would be accepting money from the University of California pension system, a $190 billion entity responsible for managing the system’s investment portfolio. UC Investments manages the endowment and retirement savings from the UC system and operates independently from the associated universities.
As part of the deal, UC Investments would buy a 10% stake in the conference’s new offshoot, Big Ten Enterprises. The 10-year extension of the grant of rights would be required to complete the deal.
The Big Ten has been exploring a private investment for about a year and it seems a deal is on the table, and close to being completed.
