SBJ College: Behind the on-campus LLC boom

The Lane Kiffin saga has been a fascinating look into the interplay between college football and media.

If you haven’t read it, give this Washington Post column from Steven Godfrey a read. It’s the best explanation for some of the backroom conflicts of interest that exist everywhere in college sports and that were at the center of the narratives around Kiffin’s decision.

Not sure I can remember a wilder couple weeks on the coaching carousel. Then again, with Kiffin involved, we shouldn’t be too surprised.

In case you missed it in this week’s magazine, I dove into the world of third-party LLCs that seem to be popping up by the day across college athletics.

These new-look entities vary widely in scope and actual responsibilities, but the reason for rolling out such a venture is simple: Generate more revenue and create flexibility.

“What has been in college athletics is the ‘external unit,’” Clemson AD Graham Neff said. “In a lot of places, that means philanthropy, [multimedia rights] management, sports information, your marketing team. … The distinction of duties and staff under Clemson Ventures is [it’s] all revenue-generating in nature."

Clemson Ventures is perhaps the first of these LLCs to take hold. The entity was born out of the school’s multimedia rights deal with JMI Sports going sideways and the parties negotiating an early termination to their relationship.

Clemson created Clemson Athletics Properties (CAPCO), evolving that into Clemson Ventures -- an arm that has generated significant revenues despite operational costs.

Kentucky’s Champions Blue, LLC is essentially a holding company for the school’s athletic department. Texas Tech, as part of a 10-year renewal with Learfield, rolled out Texas Tech Athletics Partners LLC, which will house the school’s business development and Learfield Impact NIL services and staff.

“There’s going to be a lot that develops [in college sports],” said Michigan State AD J Batt, who spearheaded the development of Spartan Ventures during his brief tenure. “But a lot of that’s TBD. A lot of this is moving to a place where you’re prepared to take on change and challenge, and this sort of an organization allows you to do that.”

Don’t be surprised when more of these entities continue popping up.

Mason Shipp’s phone buzzed as he plodded his way through a homework assignment last winter.

Glancing down at his iPhone, Shipp answered the call to hear Yale football coach Tony Reno and AD Vicky Chun on the other line. They had news.

For the first time, Ivy League schools would be able to compete in the FCS Playoffs -- and it was Shipp’s efforts that brought this about.

“I saw the update while they were talking to me on ESPN,” Shipp said, his voice growing more excited by the word. “That was pretty sick.”

Shipp, a senior wide receiver on the Yale football team, dislocated his wrist in the first half of the season. Surgery followed, and he’s been sidelined since.

But for how he might’ve helped Yale on the field, it’s Shipp’s off-the-field efforts as part of the Ivy League’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) that are as important as any touchdown he might’ve scored.

Last year, Shipp and his colleagues on the Ivy League SAAC committee were spitballing about issues they faced. The concept of football programs not being able to compete in the FCS playoffs came up.

Inspired by the discussion, Shipp organized a committee of Ivy League football players to piece together a proposal they could bring to the conference office in hopes of changing the rules related to postseason play.

That all led to that December call from Reno and Chun that Shipp’s efforts had, in fact, brought the change he and his teammates so desperately desired.

“My focus on my proposal was to not make it an opinion thing, not make it an argument, but try to make a very succinct argument about what we’re losing the opportunity to have as Ivy League students, Ivy league football players, and why this should be changed,” Shipp said. “The one thing I knew was every single sport except for football had the opportunity to compete in the playoffs or their NCAA championship. We were the only sport that was not afforded that right.”

That Shipp has been unable to play over the last month hasn’t stopped the Bulldogs. Yale dominated Harvard in its season finale to earn the Ivy League’s first FCS playoff bid. It followed with a 28-point comeback victory Saturday against No. 15-seed Youngstown State.

This week brings its own challenge, a date with No. 2 Montana State. And while Shipp won’t suit up, that more than 90 of his teammates could pull off their second upset in as many weeks is inherently tied to the injured pass-catcher.

“Obviously, not being able to play really sucks,” Shipp said. “The injury was unfortunate, came at a bad time, but that’s part of it. Being able to just watch my team have a successful season, win the Ivy League championship, and then the way we were able to have probably the best comeback in FCS playoff history the other day, it was really cool to watch all that happen and sit there and be a supporter, be an additional coach to help my teammates in whatever way I can. ... This year, it’s been special. We’re making history every single day.”

College football is coming to Brazil.

N.C. State and Virginia are slated to play in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 29 as part of “College Football Brasil” -- a joint effort between local government and Athlete Advantage.

The first college football game in South America comes on the heels of major sporting events such as the World Cup and Summer Olympics in Rio.

I caught up with Athlete Advantage CEO Crowley Sullivan to talk through the game’s genesis, why it’s an opportunity for those participating and whether this jumpstarts demand for such events outside the U.S.

Answers have been edited for clarity and length.

SBJ: Why did Brazil make sense for hosting this game?

Crowley Sullivan: “For starters, it’s a world-class city that has already demonstrated itself to be a world-class host -- the Olympics, the NFL. On top of that, FBS college football has never been played there. The unique nature from that perspective was really appealing.

“But I do have to say that my experience working for Dana White and seeing the way he and the UFC have had so much success with their shows in Brazil, it’s created such a massive following. Obviously, there are big differences that speak for themselves between the UFC and college football, but I saw what Dana did, and I thought to myself, ‘Maybe we can do the same thing within the context of our own sport and that can potentially have a similar type of an impact on the possible globalization of college football.’ That opportunity is there and we’re tapping into it.”

SBJ: Given those factors, what was the genesis of getting this game off the ground?

CS: “Our team during one of our regular meetings literally said, ‘I think we should do a college football game in Brazil.’ That’s how it started. I’m not going to lie -- there was some laughter in the room, and we all sat around and talked about it for a while and we said, ‘All right, this group, why don’t you guys over here spend a couple of weeks doing some research, digging in, trying to find out how we would go about doing this, and then in a couple of weeks let’s revisit it.’

“Before we ever even made any outreach to anybody, we did that. We revisited it as a team, and there was enough great reception and very reasonable and logical pathways forward to be able to do this. Then we said, ‘Let’s go for it.’”

SBJ: Schools are obviously looking to generate more revenue these days. How does this assist them in that strategy?

CS: “I’m not going to speak specifically about the way all of the revenues will be disseminated; however, the University of Virginia and N.C. State are going to benefit greatly from the revenue that’s going to be driven from this, and they’re going to benefit in ways that go beyond the traditional revenue streams of a traditional home game.

“I want to give massive credit to both of these universities and [Commissioner] Jim Phillips and the ACC for recognizing this game as a regular-season ACC game. The way in which this international game is going to drive revenues will deliver these schools with truly unique revenue opportunities that go beyond what we might refer to as a ‘traditional’ on-campus game.”

SBJ: International games are becoming more common in college football, particularly in Europe. What makes this game different?

CS: “The fact that it’s the very first time that an FBS college football game will be played in South America, that’s pretty remarkable. That makes this game about as unique as the game can be. The fact that it’s a conference game says so much about the innovative spirit of these two universities. ... I also want to point this out, the component of ESPN broadcasting this game, that adds to the unique nature of the entire initiative.

“I’m proud to be an ESPN alum. My entire sports career began with ESPN, working for Mark Shapiro and so many other legends. ... It made me really proud to make one phone call and they recognized the value, they trusted us. ... That weekend of Week Zero of next season, ESPN is going to be able to celebrate in a major way. And we all know they’ll do it in the way that ESPN knows how to do it better than anybody else.”

SBJ: Do you envision this going beyond 2026? What is that picture of how this unfolds beyond the first edition?

CS: “This is just the beginning of the vision that we have for presenting universities with unique opportunities, and international events will continue to be at the core of our mission-based business.

“So, will there be more college football games that we will orchestrate to take place in Brazil? Probably. Will we look to other parts of the world? Absolutely. We’re already deep into discussions with governments and sports agencies literally all over the world about this.”

• As Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU, a chorus of boos and profanities greeted him on the tarmac. It’s all part of the The Lane Kiffin Experience™, one entirely of his own creation.
• Private equity, College Football Playoff expansion and changing commercial fortunes are three storylines I’m keeping my eyes on in 2026.
• I caught up with Altius Sports Partners President Andrew Donovan during his visit to our Charlotte HQ a few weeks ago. Check out our conversation about how the company is helping athletic departments during a time of change.
• ESPN and TNT Sports are collaborating to bring Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley together on the air for the first time as game analysts for a regular-season matchup and then again during the early part of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, marking the first time Dickie V will be calling March Madness, reports SBJ’s Austin Karp.
• Bret McCormick’s latest SBJ Facilities newsletter offers updates on projects at Northeastern and West Virginia.
• North Carolina’s athletics department and its platform provider, Sidearm Sports, integrated FanCompass into the Tar Heels’ website to deploy its FC Core Fan Engagement Engine across the school’s platform, notes SBJ’s Ethan Joyce.