A First in College Athletics

Crimson Brand Partners made news 374 times as the deal went public.

When the University of Utah and its foundation announced in December 2025 that they would form Crimson Brand Partners with Otro Capital — college sports’ first single-school private-equity deal — the news reached an estimated 2.98 billion readers across 15 countries, led by The New York Times, ESPN, the Associated Press, and CNBC.

Coverage at a Glance

Unit: University of Utah
Comms Lead: Rebecca Walsh
Contact: rebecca.walsh@utah.edu

Sentiment

Positive95% · 354

Negative5% · 20

374

Total Pickups

214

Unique Outlets

2.98B

Estimated Views

Countries Reached

349.8M

Reach from Top 4 National Hits

$27.6M

Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE)*

Wins & Takeaways

95%

Positive

positive or neutral coverage

“I think we can go from surviving to thriving.”

— Bassam Salem, University of Utah Trustee

The New York Times, ESPN, AP, CNBC and both Yahoo! desks led national coverage — 349.8M reach from the top four hits alone.
Coverage was overwhelmingly positive or neutral — critical pieces made up just 5% (20 of 374), framing the deal as a fiscal gamble over taxpayer cost, institutional control, and layoffs.
“First single-school private-equity deal in college sports” landed as the national framing, led by The New York Times.
Full Utah market sweep: KSL, The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, KSL Sports, and FOX 13 all ran original stories.

Top Pickups by Reach

Headline / Outlet

Reach

Tier

University of Utah approves groundbreaking athletics plan to pursue private equity

The New York Times

143.7M

National

Lawmakers express concerns over University of Utah athletics private equity deal

MSN.com

89.4M

National