Michigan Blocks Big 10 Investment Deal – Holding Out for Superleague?

For most of the Big Ten schools, landing an up-front payment of anywhere from $100 million to $190 million (for Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan) sounds pretty attractive right now, especially with a huge new line item – player payroll – in their budgets and NIL back payments taking a large bite out of their previously expected distributions from the NCAA.

But it makes sense that Michigan sees a 20-year commitment as too long of a lock-in, given the explosion of media rights values in recent years – and Michigan’s position as one of the top few programs in the Power Four. Perhaps even more salient, a long-term Big Ten/UC Investments deal would likely doom Project Rudy, the 70-team, $9 billion “superleague” being proposed by a group led by former Disney executives with independent Notre Dame as its likely cornerstone, as well as competing private equity-backed superleague visions like the College Student Football League and Power 2 – all of which could bring even greater riches to Ann Arbor.