376 days after his formal appointment at MSU, Batt now heads to Kentucky to lead their athletics department and supervise their for-profit LLC, Champions Blue, as CEO. Batt is expected to start at Kentucky later this summer, according to a UK press release.

Guskiewicz brought Batt to East Lansing from the ACC in June of 2025, and the two quickly became key partners in the department's fundraising efforts.

Their relationship dates back to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where Guskiewicz led concussion research while Batt served as a graduate assistant with the men's soccer program. Batt was the goalkeeper on North Carolina's 2001 national championship team.

When Guskiewicz announced his move to Clemson University two weeks ago, a clause in Batt's contract reduced his buyout from $5 million to $2.5 million. That is the amount the University of Kentucky will owe Michigan State.

Batt was earning $1.85 million annually at Michigan State, with $100,000 raises scheduled each year on a six-year deal. His salary represented a substantial increase from the $800,000 base salary earned by his predecessor, Alan Haller.

Haller was dismissed from his post by Guskiewicz in May 2025 following NCAA sanctions and underperforming seasons, spurring a month-long search for a candidate to take the helm of MSU's athletics department. Guskiewicz and Batt were committed to top-down university alignment in all initiatives and leadership. 

The two introduced Spartan Ventures and Spartan Media Ventures in October 2025 as a way to modernize MSU’s approach to raising capital in the NIL era with skyrocketing spending across the NCAA.

The weekend after MSU football finished 4-8 for its fourth straight losing season, Batt fired head coach Jonathan Smith with a 9-15 record over two seasons. Batt then brought on former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who will lead the program this fall.

In December 2025, Batt announced For Sparta, a billion-dollar capital campaign directed at transforming MSU’s athletics infrastructure and NIL streams, headlined by a $400 million donation from Greg and Dawn Williams. MSU released a statement on Monday afternoon confirming the July 1 start date for the non-profit Spartan Ventures alongside for-profit Spartan Media Ventures. 

“In light of the recent news of upcoming MSU leadership transition, our message is simple: Spartan Ventures is moving forward and it is primed to elevate MSU Athletics to new levels,” the statement read, in part signed by Spartan Ventures CEO Jon Palumbo. 

Palumbo worked closely with Batt at Georgia Tech, where Palumbo oversaw fundraising initiatives and key coaching hires. At MSU, Palumbo is the Chief Operating Officer of the Athletics Department and now oversees Spartan Ventures alongside Jared Kozin and Tim House, who both work to increase corporate and philanthropic donations across athletics. All three Spartan Ventures executives have less than a year of tenure at MSU.

With Guskiewicz out the door, questions quickly followed about the fate of Spartan Ventures, the revenue-generating venture the two had championed together. At a Board of Trustees meeting Friday, board chair Brianna Scott moved to put those concerns to rest, saying the structure of the governing documents was designed to survive leadership changes.

“Everything is related and framed as a position versus a person,” Scott said. “Whoever sits in that position, it will apply to that person just as much as it applied to Kevin.”

Scott also said Batt was still “on board” after Guskiewicz announced his departure for Clemson. Three days later, he announced the contrary.

MSU has yet to name an interim candidate for athletic director following Batt's departure. In a press release sent earlier Monday, Guskiewicz said he will be working to name an interim athletic director in the "coming days."

As for its next president, Scott said having someone who has the same values of ambitious fundraising is important, although no interim or permanent candidate has been named.