Penn State AD Pat Kraft on Big Ten expansion, private equity in college sports and more

[LMTLION]

Click here for the interview of Pat Kraft.
It is a rather interesting interview with lots of information. Two positive things I took from this is that PSU has zero interest (thankfully) in getting in bed with private equity vultures and that Kraft is truly dedicated to the entire athletic dept (vs just football), as he should be. The one negative take away was that they have talked about the PSU NIL brand academy for two years and are still setting it up, which I think is way too long.

 

[Obliviax]

Click here for the interview of Pat Kraft.
It is a rather interesting interview with lots of information. Two positive things I took from this is that PSU has zero interest (thankfully) in getting in bed with private equity vultures and that Kraft is truly dedicated to the entire athletic dept (vs just football), as he should be. The one negative take away was that they have talked about the PSU NIL brand academy for two years and are still setting it up, which I think is way too long.

I find his speach to be a bit halting and disconnected. Its like his brain is going 100mph but his mouth can only go 60 mph. Regardless...

His PE comments lead me to believe that PE is not for a major program but I can see it being useful for someone not in the B1G, ACC or SEC. The school would certainly need to give some power to the PE firm and that wouldn't be great over the long term. But I can see those teams on the bubble, between the haves and have-nots, grasping to PE firms to stay in the club.