There's a rumor circulating that the Big Ten is planning to sell, to a hedge fund, an equity stake in their future TV contract rights for a huge cash infusion.

This is a pants-on-head retarded decision by the Big Ten. If they're getting a cash infusion of $1B-$2B now, that's only because the hedge fund expects to make an interest-adjusted return better than that in the future. It's a great example of mortgaging your future for a temporary boost.

It's also stupid because most Big Ten schools are public state universities. I.e., if Michigan State needs $200M cash, they would get a better deal convincing the State of Michigan to issue $200M in municipal bonds, than selling their share of future TV rights. Due to the tax benefit of municipal bonds, most Big Ten schools actually can borrow for a cheaper rate than most hedge funds! Of course, it's probably not politically feasible to get the state government to issue bonds and give the money to the athletic department.

In the past few decades, sports TV rights have gone up faster than inflation, and faster than the benchmark interest rate the hedge fund is using to price the deal. That's because both the CPI and interest rates are less than true inflation. I.e., the hedge fund is borrowing at 5% (or whatever the current Fed Funds Rate is), giving the money to the Big Ten, and getting TV rights that will increase by 10% a year or more.