photo by: Kansas Athletics

KU athletic director Travis Goff speaks at volleyball coach Matt Ulmer's introductory press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.

In the days since multiple outlets reported that the Big 12 Conference struck a five-year deal with RedBird Capital and Weatherford Capital — one that will grant the league $12.5 million and provide member schools the opportunity to opt into a $30 million credit line — several athletic departments have already declared that they will not make use of the credit line.

While expressing his support for the deal, UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir said the Knights will decline the capital credit option, per UCFSports.com. His Houston counterpart Eddie Nuñez struck a similar tone in the Houston Chronicle: “We are supportive of what RedBird is bringing to the table, but as an institution right now we are not considering the school-level investment that they have offered.”

EerSports reported West Virginia won’t take part. Neither will Cincinnati, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Utah, for what it’s worth, already has a private equity deal with Otro Capital, though it’s worth noting that by all accounts, the new RedBird deal is not in fact private equity because RedBird does not get any sort of ownership in or control over the league.

In any case, what of Kansas, a school whose chancellor, Douglas Girod, currently chairs the Big 12’s board of directors? Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reported that he “spearheaded” the deal along with Yormark and quoted Girod as follows: “At the highest level what I hope to get out of this is a really strong partnership that positions our conference well into the future, including for our next media deal by creating increased value.”

KU athletic director Travis Goff told the Journal-World in an interview on Wednesday that the athletic department doesn’t know yet if it will opt into the credit line or not.

“I really like that answer and I feel really good about that answer, because we haven’t fully assessed it,” he said.

The RedBird credit line will reportedly require repayment with an interest rate just below 10%. KU Athletics, for what it’s worth, recently extended its own previous $35 million credit line to $50 million with a much lower interest rate “based on a 30-day SOFR, which is currently around 3.66%, plus a 1% margin,” as the Journal-World reported in April.

Goff on Wednesday praised Yormark, Girod and the board for “bringing additional opportunities to the table” and described the arrangement as a “no-lose proposition.”

“The core part of the deal will drive value for Big 12 membership, I don’t have any doubt in my mind,” Goff said, referring to the $12.5 million going to the league.

Many reports on the topic have noted that RedBird holds a stake in Paramount, an alignment that could potentially be advantageous for the Big 12 in future media rights negotiations.

Goff continued: “Then this other secondary, like, optional thing? Hey, it’s just another potential capital partner solution that’s already been vetted. And I don’t know if we would or we wouldn’t.”

He said KU doesn’t have any urgency around making such a determination. Dellenger reported that schools have a year to decide, and that the belief around the league is that “as few as two and as many as a half-dozen programs plan to take the money.”

Whether KU ultimately counts itself among that number apparently has yet to be determined.

“I just know it’s another thing on a short list that could be a tool to tap into if it’s deemed responsible financially, and if it’s deemed that the capital could be used in a strategic fashion,” Goff said. “So that’s the real, honest answer, and we don’t feel any rush to further assess or to declare yea or nay.”