Louisville board creates Cardinal Ventures nonprofit for athletics

The University of Louisville Board of Trustees voted April 23 to approve the creation of a new non-profit called Cardinal Ventures, Inc. This entity will function like an in-house marketing agency within the University of Louisville Athletics Association that will also handle revenue-sharing and name, image and likeness deals with athletes. The board also approved the creation of a second for-profit entity, subject to further approval should it be needed in the future.

This second entity would allow for a private equity investor to purchase a stake in athletics. "The university does not have an entity currently in forum that can negotiate and receive monetization dollars in the form of private capital, private equity, buying of a revenue stream — all kinds of things that are available, for example, to professional sports franchises," said Larry Benz , chair of the Board of Trustees. "We view that as a for-profit entity whose benefit would be to the university's athletic department as well.

"In order to do that, it takes more due diligence and more legal formation. There's some complications around it, being a public entity and having a for-profit. In order to do this effectively, we wanted to activate the development, the due diligence around it.

But if it were to actually conduct a business deal or transaction, it would have to go back to the Board of Trustees for approval. " Cardinal Ventures will be governed by a small board that will include university president Gerry Bradley , athletics director Josh Heird and other university leadership. Benz said the goal is to also include outside experts in marketing, contract legality and professional sports.