College sports crossed a line on Friday that administrators have been circling for years. The University of Utah finalized its partnership with investment firm Otro Capital, making the Utes the first athletic department in the country to bring private equity directly into its operation.
The mechanics matter here, because this isn’t a simple cash infusion. The deal creates a brand-new company, Crimson Brand Partners, that launches July 1 and will run the business side of Utah’s 19 sports — ticketing, sponsorships, and branding. The athletic department keeps control of everything that touches competition: coaching decisions, recruiting, scheduling, and fundraising. Otro Capital, whose portfolio includes a stake in Alpine’s Formula 1 team, holds an ownership position in the new entity and is reportedly committing at least $100 million, though official terms weren’t disclosed.
Matt Webb, a former front-office executive with the New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns, will run Crimson Brand Partners as CEO, with athletic director Mark Harlan chairing its board. Webb didn’t pretend there’s precedent for any of this, admitting “there’s no road map” for the venture.
Why would Utah go first? The answer is the squeeze facing every program in the middle of the Power 4. The Utes compete in the Big 12 against schools they can’t outspend, in an era when revenue sharing with athletes has added millions in new annual costs. Utah’s books showed a modest surplus in 2025 — but only after dipping into $19.4 million in reserves. Rather than cut sports or lean harder on the university’s academic budget, Utah went looking for outside capital.
Not everyone in Salt Lake City is comfortable with that trade. Utah’s state auditor warned trustees last month of significant financial risks unless the department dramatically changes its spending or revenue picture, and cautioned that investor returns could end up competing with institutional values. Harlan pushed back on Friday, arguing that standing still carries more risk than the deal does, given rising costs across college athletics.
The bigger story is what happens next. Private equity has been knocking on college sports’ door for several years — the Big 12 closed a conference-level deal with RedBird and Weatherford Capital in April, and schools like Florida State have publicly explored similar arrangements. Until now, no individual school had actually signed. Utah just gave every athletic director in the country a live experiment to watch.
If Crimson Brand Partners meaningfully grows Utah’s revenue without compromising how the department operates, expect a wave of copycats by this time next year. If it doesn’t, the auditor’s letter becomes the document everyone cites. Either way, the wall between college athletics and institutional investors is officially down.
Source: The Athletic
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