Private capital in college athletics has mostly been discussed through the lens of the Power 4, but what if the most compelling opportunity lies below the surface?
Sequence Equity, which is actively exploring investments across the collegiate landscape, sees the Group of 5 not as a second-tier fallback, but as a first-mover opportunity. “We’re not trying to turn mid-majors into mini-Power 4 programs,” says managing partner Marcus Stroud. “We’re trying to create new business models rooted in agility, creativity, and community engagement.”
The idea is straightforward: mid-majors, unencumbered by legacy structures and bloated bureaucracies, are better positioned to build infrastructure from scratch. That means they can lead on athlete monetization models, reinvent media formats, and pilot educational tools that are both scalable and exportable. These aren’t programs trying to be Alabama or Michigan. They’re building something different—on their own terms.
At Northern Illinois, Athletic Director Sean Frazier doesn’t pretend the resource gap doesn’t exist. “We’re not going to outspend Ohio State,” he admits. “But we can outmaneuver a system that’s slow to change.”
That sentiment is spreading across the Group of 5. With media rights dollars increasingly concentrated at the top, many mid-major leaders are rejecting the idea of playing catch-up. Instead, they’re asking a more fundamental question: how can we build value that isn’t dependent on traditional levers like CFP access or national TV deals?
Some schools are already experimenting with proprietary NIL marketplaces, performance platforms that double as athlete tools and commercial assets, and even restructured conference media deals centered on athlete-driven storytelling. This isn’t mimicry, it’s invention.
Taken together, a new model is emerging. One where mid-majors aren’t feeder systems but venture studios—launchpads for innovation, compensation experiments, and intellectual property. And the goal isn’t to impress the Power 4. It’s to license to them.
Frazier sees that dynamic clearly: “We have an opportunity to be first movers. To show what’s possible before the rest of the system catches up.”
At Grand Canyon University, Athletic Director Jamie Boggs views it through a tech lens. With GCU’s deep experience in online education and platform delivery, she sees a natural extension: building athlete infrastructure that starts in-house but can scale as a service for other institutions. “We already think in terms of platforms,” Boggs explains. “Now we’re applying that same thinking to how we develop and support student-athletes.”
One of the most forward-looking areas is athlete compensation. Without CFP payouts or nine-figure media deals, mid-majors are forced to get creative—which may be precisely the point. From deferred comp and equity-based incentives to tokenized royalty pools, these programs are in a position to test models the Power 4 may eventually have to adopt.
The absence of financial parity isn’t a constraint. It’s a license to experiment.
When asked to describe what success looks like five years from now, neither Frazier nor Boggs mentions “catching up.” Instead, they talk about sustainability, scalability, and differentiation: new revenue streams, leaner operations, and communities that act more like ecosystems than fan bases.
This isn’t about chasing parity. It’s about seizing position.
The House settlement may have triggered a national reckoning, but it’s the Group of 5 that now holds the most strategic flexibility—and perhaps the most urgency. Schools that move first won’t just keep up. They’ll own the blueprint.
“This isn’t just about private capital investing in schools,” says Stroud. “It’s about schools becoming investors in their own future.”