The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees has officially approved the creation of Champions Blue, LLC, a newly formed corporate entity that will operate the university’s athletic department.

The structure, presented as PR 6: Creation of Champions Blue, LLC and approved on April 25, establishes a new affiliated company to oversee operations with more financial and operational freedom.

According to the proposal, the new model is designed to help Kentucky Athletics adapt to a shifting financial and legal landscape, including the potential for schools to directly compensate student-athletes pending the approval of the House v. NCAA settlement.

The document states that the new structure is intended to create “a flexible operating model more responsive to change” and prepare Kentucky Athletics for “the era of directly compensating student-athletes,” which presents “unprecedented challenges for UK and all university athletic programs.”

Champions Blue was modeled after the Beyond Blue Corporation, the university’s existing holding company, which is used to manage healthcare expansions, including the acquisitions of both King’s Daughters Medical Center in Ashland and St. Claire HealthCare in Morehead.

By establishing Beyond Blue, Kentucky expanded UK HealthCare quickly and efficiently, with greater financial and operational flexibility to support major healthcare expansion projects.

As stated in PR 6, “The benefits of this structure have been numerous,” including maintaining senior leadership at the hospitals, allowing flexible investments, and supporting major projects such as “a new Emergency Department with an almost $100 million investment” at King’s Daughters and “a commitment to St. Claire to invest $300 million over the next six years.”

According to PR 6, the proposal also highlights that Beyond Blue has since grown into a $1.3 billion corporation.

In a press release issued by UK Athletics on April 24, Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart pointed to the success of UK HealthCare, saying that holding companies like Beyond Blue Corporation have allowed for large-scale investments while still maintaining oversight from the university. 

“You’ve heard other departments talk about business districts and things like that,” Barnhart said. “And those are conversations that are all on the table, but really difficult to perform in our current structure. And so this gives us more flexibility to do that.”

UK President Eli Capilouto added that this strategy will allow UK Athletics to pursue business development, new revenue opportunities and more financial freedom while staying aligned with the university’s broader mission.

“We believe this is an innovative approach — a new structure and governance model that thoughtfully contemplates how we strengthen athletics, protect and promote the university and open up new opportunities for growth,” he said. “It’s a foundation and model that we are calling Champions Blue.”

Champions Blue will be governed by a board consisting of senior university officials and external advisors from business and professional sports. It will collaborate closely with both Barnhart and Capilouto.

As outlined in PR 6, the board will provide “strategic guidance and counsel” to help Kentucky Athletics develop long-term strategies for success, specifically as financial demands increase.

According to USA Today and the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database, Kentucky’s athletic department reported $202 million in revenue and nearly $197 million in expenses during the 2023-24 fiscal year, putting it among the top 15 public institutions nationally.

“Our mission remains the same: to put championship rings on fingers and diplomas in hands,” Barnhart said. “But how we accomplish that goal — how we finance our teams, protect our future and support our student athletes — will have to change. That’s what this new model represents — an understanding that in the market we are in, we have to be creative.”

The proposal states that UK Athletics has a long record of financial strength, fully funding its programs while also contributing millions of dollars toward general institutional scholarships and campus academic facilities.

“I am excited about what the future holds, through even greater collaboration with the University as we partner together to continue UK Athletics as such an important part of the mission of the University of Kentucky,” Barnhart said.