Smash Capital Pitches $9B ‘Project Rudy’ Super League to Michigan, USC
Smash Sports, the private equity firm founded by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, held a pitch session on March 3, 2026, to outline a sweeping plan for restructuring major college football. The proposal centered on new strategies for television and media rights, aiming to modernize how the sport is packaged and delivered to audiences. The latest reports confirm that leaders and representatives from prominent college football programs, including Michigan, Penn State, Maryland, and USC, were all present in the meeting.
The meeting held in Dallas primarily discussed how TV and media rights could be handled in the future. Smash Sports, the company that advertises itself as “Working with America’s colleges and universities to address the financial and structural challenges in college athletics,” acknowledged that college football is currently going through a rough patch, and an immediate discussion regarding how money, TV deals, and organizations should work is necessary. The issue has become especially pressing now, with leadership changes, rising federal interest, and ongoing campaigns by various groups to redefine how college sports operate. In the meeting, Smash Sports met with representatives of these universities, who were reportedly attending in a personal capacity rather than as official delegates of their institutions.
Yahoo Sports reported that Tuesday’s meeting had been an effort to gather potential stakeholders from across the country to exchange ideas and confirm interest in the plan. According to multiple sources familiar with the meeting, the attendees had included board members from 15 schools, including Michigan, Penn State, Maryland, and USC from the Big Ten. One person familiar with the meeting stated that the board members had not been acting as official representatives of their schools and had attended in their individual capacities. It added that LSU President Wade Rousse and TCU President Daniel Pullin had planned to attend the meeting.
The meeting has triggered an initial discussion and idea-sharing session, but it is yet to reach a concrete outcome and broad support. According to the latest reports, the Big Ten and SEC have not publicly backed the plan. The media reported that the Big Ten Conference and the Southeastern Conference, the wealthiest and most powerful conferences in college sports, had shown no interest in the Smash plan or others like it. However, the idea of pooling college football broadcast rights had gained traction in Washington with lawmakers, as the NCAA ( National Collegiate Athletic Association ) and conference leaders had lobbied for a federal law to help them govern college sports. Mainstream media further reported that Smash Sports’ plan would take all 138 schools competing at the highest level of Division I out from under the umbrella of the NCAA, remove the management and negotiation of media rights contracts from their conferences, and hand those rights to another entity that could potentially have some government backing.
Michigan, USC Could Explore Independence Amid College Football Restructure Pitch
If major money changes are implemented in the sport, some people believe that Michigan is in a strong position to leave the conference and become an independent entity in college football. By becoming independent, powerful schools like Michigan can schedule their own games, sell their own TV rights, and keep more of the revenue.
Dan Wetzel commented that if those schools had one major game as independents or formed a small group, including matchups like Ohio State vs. Penn State and Michigan vs. Penn State, and then scheduled their remaining games elsewhere, such as playing in the MAC for other sports or arranging their own schedules, it could create a major financial opportunity.
He explained that if they took such a package to open bidding and allowed networks like Netflix, ESPN, Fox, and CBS to compete for it, offering around $150 million just for “The Game”, it would amount to about $75 million per school, which he noted was roughly the same amount they were currently receiving for their entire conference package.
Wetzel added that with that revenue, plus earnings from their other home games, potentially playing eight home games per year, the financial opportunity would be significant. He concluded that as the model expanded, it could eventually become fiscally irresponsible for those schools not to at least consider the option.
