Pat Kraft refutes reports linking Penn State to historic private equity funding

No, Penn State athletics will not be among the first college programs in the nation to receive private equity funding. Shortly after reports surfaced on Monday indicating that the Nittany Lions had struck a historic deal with Elevate to join the sports consulting firm’s newly launched college sports fund, the university’s athletic director spoke out to correct the record.

“Elevate serves as our partner in ticketing strategy and operations,” Kraft told Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. “To clarify, our relationship is strictly limited to these services. We have no affiliation or involvement with any private equity firm or fund.”

Earlier on Monday, Sportico reported that Penn State and UCLA had become the inaugural partners in Elevate’s new College Investment Initiative. On3’s Pete Nakos later confirmed the reports. Backed by the private equity firm Velocity Capital Management, the $500 million investment fund will be offered to schools to support revenue-generating projects like venue upgrades, NIL platforms, and multimedia rights development.

🚨BREAKING: Penn State and UCLA have become the inaugural partners in @oneelevate_'s newly unveiled $500 million College Investment Initiative. The Big Ten schools are the first partners to sign with Elevate's new private equity-backed $500 million College Investment Initiative. pic.twitter.com/okgZAHokly

— Sportico (@Sportico) June 9, 2025

UCLA also denied involvement in the College Investment Initiative.

The Nittany Lions’ existing relationship with Elevate dates to August 2024, when the school partnered with the firm to support its premium seating, ticketing, and fan engagement strategy, particularly focused on the football game day experience following the ongoing renovations to Beaver Stadium.

News of private equity’s interest in college sports comes after United States District Court Judge Claudia Wilken approved the House vs. NCAA settlement last Friday, paving the way for Division I schools to share up to $20.5 million annually with athletes starting on July 1.

“Since the Court’s initial approval of the settlement in July 2024, Penn State athletics has been preparing to meet the demands of this transformational change,” Kraft said on Saturday. “We will share revenue with our student-athletes to the maximum allowable levels; through the new Legacy Fund and the existing Nittany Lion Club Excellence Funds, we will increase the number of scholarships we offer to our 800+ student-athletes, as the settlement removes NCAA scholarship limits; and we have developed ROAR Solutions, a powerful, dynamic group of resources assembled to deliver the best student-athlete NIL, endorsement and branding support in the country.”

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