After the Board of Trustees’ June 12 meeting, Board Chair Brianna Scott said there have been no changes to Spartan Ventures or Spartan Media Ventures. 

In December of 2025, the board approved a resolution allowing the university to enter into a strategic brand management agreement with the nonprofit Spartan Ventures. The resolution allowed for the creation of its for-profit counterpart, Spartan Media Ventures, which has drawn criticism from board members for a lack of proper disclosures. 

With MSU in search of its 23rd president, Brianna Scott said no matter who’s in charge of MSU, Spartan Ventures will remain the same. 

“You take the person and the names out, you take my name out, and you look at my position as the board chair; you do the same with the president, and so whoever sits in that position, it will apply to that person just as much as it applied to Kevin,” Scott said.

Spartan Ventures is set to launch on July 1, with Guskiewicz's final day not yet announced. As for Athletic Director J Batt, he has a clause in his contract that would cut his $5 million buyout in half if he decided to leave East Lansing. Scott said her understanding is that he is still “on board” and working.

During the meeting, Faculty Senate Chair Dr. John Aerni-Flessner called for 25% of revenue generated from Spartan Ventures to go toward the general fund so “Every Spartan student and faculty member could clearly see the connection between a successful athletic enterprise and the collective academic enterprise.”

“It is great to be one step ahead of our colleagues in Ann Arbor, not going to lie, in creating new sport commercial ventures to take advantage of the new rules and opportunities opening up via transformations in the NCAA system,” Aerni-Flessner said.

With much change coming to the university and its operating budget, Scott said MSU’s revenue streams on the athletics end should remain constant.

“In my opinion, no, nothing should change; everything should continue,” Scott said.

Donations to MSU and MSU Athletics have increased, Scott said, even with tumultuous relations on the board and presidential change. 

“We have people that have not donated in a long time, finally having the confidence in our leadership in the university that have come back and started donating,” Scott said. “We want to continue doing that.”

Trustee Mike Balow has been a critic of Spartan Media Ventures since its inception last fall. The board required trustees to sign a nondisclosure agreement to gain access to documents relating to the for-profit venture. 

Trustee Sandy Pierce said the NDA gives MSU a strategic advantage over its competitors in raising revenue. All documents relating to Spartan Media Ventures are not subject to public disclosure.

“The strategic initiative puts MSU far ahead of all of its competitors,” Pierce said. “If (documents) were released, we would not have a competitive advantage.”