Mitch Barnhart sheds light on Champions Blue, potential entertainment district outside Kroger Field

Starting tomorrow, July 1, schools can directly pay student-athletes for their name, image, and likeness. The revenue-sharing era of college athletics will be daunting as schools scramble to come up with $20.5 million to distribute to student-athletes, an allotment that will increase every year; thanks to some bold moves, Kentucky is prepared.

A few months ago, the University of Kentucky announced it is moving the athletic department to Champions Blue, a limited liability company (LLC) that will help the school grow new revenue streams. We’ve heard plenty about Champions Blue LLC since then, but Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart recently sat down with John Talty to further explain its purpose and specifically, the potential entertainment district UK is exploring building outside Kroger Field. By pursuing that and other new revenue streams, UK hopes to stay competitive and avoid raising ticket prices like some other schools.

“We’re not just going to our fanbase and saying ‘Hey, our expenses went up and we need more money,'” Barnhart told CBS Sports. “That’s not fair to them all the time, and frankly, it’s not going to be viable in our state. Our opportunities because of our population (are) not as many.” 

Earlier this month, the UK Board of Trustees approved $110 million worth of investments for UK Athletics/Champions Blue LLC, including $36 million for improvements to Kroger Field. They also greenlit a Request For Information (RFI) to develop an entertainment district on campus, which could include restaurants, hotels, and other entertainment options. More ideas include hosting more concerts at Kroger Field, like Tyler Childers’ show in April, and other major events.

“The public-private partnerships are really important in mixed use facilities,” Barnhart told Talty. “Taking the area around our football stadium and there are opportunities in that land space around there for us to do some things that may create a relationship with local businesses that want to be a part of us. Opportunities to incorporate some of those in our football stadium itself, which would be really important. There are opportunities for possible hotel/motel lodging on our campus where maybe we could be a partner to that would make some sense.”

Other schools are already taking notice. Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione and Mississippi State AD Zac Selmon told CBS Sports they were aware of Champions Blue and are eager to see how it works as they seek ways to raise revenue at their schools. UK spokesperson Tony Neely told KSR that Champions Blue has garnered so much attention that the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) held a special session for it at its annual convention three weeks ago. Barnhart and Dr. Eric N. Monday, UK’s executive vice president for finance and administration, both spoke at the session, which attracted an overflow, standing-room-only crowd. Monday, who is now on the Champions Blue board, is behind the idea, suggesting it to Barnhart after seeing the success that UK has had with Beyond Blue, the LLC UK uses for the management of community hospitals in Ashland and Morehead.

As Talty writes, it’s a little surprising that UK was the first to embrace such an innovative take on revenue-sharing, as the school is “viewed more as a steady ship than one that wants to rock the boat with aggressive moves like some of its peers,” but Barnhart’s and Eli Capilouto’s longevity in college sports is giving them the confidence to make the move.

“Early on it’s going to be like drinking out of a fire hose on some of this stuff as we try to do it, but I don’t want to sit on the sidelines and say we’ll get to it sooner or later,” Barnhart said. “I’d rather go ahead and tackle it, and let’s go, let’s try to figure it out.”

There’s more where that came from over at CBS Sports, including whether or not Champions Blue could protect UK from Title IX lawsuits and Barnhart’s thoughts on how Champions Blue could help UK if/when athletes are classified as employees by universities. The future of college sports is only going to get more complicated in the coming months; it’s comforting to know Kentucky is thinking ahead instead of getting left behind.