I agree private equity equals blood suckers. The players and the teams would be no longer independent. That is not good for the Big Ten, including Ohio State. Private equity tends to be a destroyer of businesses and not a builder. $190 million dollars for OSU over 10 or 20 years is pennies. Whole thing makes zero sense to me. Can't imagine who came up with this cockamamie idea.
Not all private equity firms, are blood suckers. Many small and mid market private equity firms are all about building companies. I was the number four employee in JM Search and had about 30 years experience dealing with private equity firms. My experiences were all positive, we helped build companies, even saved companies, and mill towns. Never worked with a private equity firm that was involved in picking apart companies. Unfortunately, there are private equity firms that do that, and that’s obviously not a good thing.
Working for a private equity backed portfolio company isn’t for everyone, but for driven, talented, smart successful people, it can be very lucrative. One of my sons is 35 and working for his fourth private equity backed behavioral health company. He has equity ownership in this company. All of the companies that he worked for were in better shape when he left than when he started and he has a strong following of people and officers from all of his past employers. Tripled one company in sales, built it to $400 million
For young people, working for executives and officers in private equity backed portfolio companies can lead to a lucrative career in private equity as they advance in their careers.
The deal here is a different animal than what I have been used to dealing with and been around. The private equity people feel they can create additional wealth and value, and they will be looking for a return on that. Not sure what their control or involvement would look like.