Tag: Greg Sankey

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey addresses timeline for scheduling decisions

It seems the SEC is still deliberating when it comes to the future format.

We all know the SEC is set to look a lot different when Oklahoma and Texas join the league starting with the 2024 football season. But what exactly those changes will entail remains a bit of a mystery.

One thing we can say with relative certainty: The two-division format is almost definitely heading into its final season and will likely be replaced by either an eight or nine-game format with three permanent conference opponents and the rest rotating.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey addressed these possibilities during an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, implying that the league’s spring meetings in Destin, Florida, could be a pivotal time in the decision-making process.

“We have, really, between now and I think our spring meetings in Destin to go back to the fundamentals of why we’ve looked at different models,” Sankey said on The Paul Finebaum Show Friday. “Generally, a single division. Key question, eight or nine games. A lot of discussion about permanent opponents, one or three? And here’s the caution for everyone. We’re won’t have a schedule with only three teams on it, for example. We will have a schedule with eight or nine games, and the weighting of the schedule, the analysis of the schedule, has to be done with the full schedule. One of the opportunities here is to play everybody every other year and one or three teams every year. That’s a much tighter strength of schedule balance than what we’ve experienced in divisions.

“We know we can narrow the competitive disparity, and I think that’s an important part that gets lost in the conversation. Now, will things stay as some people think they are? We’ll see. Those are the decisions to be made between now and the end of May.”

It seems there are still deliberations going on in determining the scheduling format going forward, but with the 2023 season on the horizon, the league is coming close to decision time.

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What the new SEC schedule proposal means for Arkansas football

It’s easy to see how the additions of Texas and Oklahoma make the SEC more glorious than it already is, but the Razorbacks may have trouble finding three schools to link up with. 

The SEC is king in college football. Commissioner Greg Sankey, who some would call the most powerful man in college sports, announced that each school in the SEC received $50 million from the 2021-22 fiscal year a month ago. 

That isn’t the most significant news heading into the spring football season and the league meeting in May. Sankey hopes to see the SEC with a nine-game conference schedule in 2024 to give each team three permanent conference opponents.

Of course, this is in response to Texas and Oklahoma announcing they will leave the Big 12 and join the SEC, jumping the conference to 16 teams.

It’s easy to see how the additions of Texas and Oklahoma make the SEC more glorious than it already is, but the Razorbacks may have trouble finding three schools to link up with.

This potential matchmaking project will come down to which perms make the most sense on the bottom line. Unfortunately, Arkansas may be without dance partners or matchups that don’t generate television revenue which we all know is king in college football.

According to sources, Arkansas’s potential dancing partners are Missouri, Ole Miss, and Texas. Ole Miss and Texas, of course, bring TV value, but the decision will be left to the athletic directors and league officials by way of votes.

Texas and Ole Miss have natural rivalries in the SEC, which the Hogs are missing. We’ve seen the SEC try to push the rivalry with Missouri, but it’s not a true rivalry. LSU, who is more of a rival than Missouri, could be a potential perm for the Razorbacks, but they are slated to have battles with Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Alabama.

Depending on how the meetings go, the Hogs will likely have to find their perm in the SEC East division with the likes of South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee.

While this may seem minor, as I stated before, finding the right set of perms could lead to financial glory in the SEC or abandonment from the SEC’s leading TV partner, ESPN.

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Greg Sankey says new ESPN TV rights deal will be major boon for SEC

The SEC will reportedly make around $300 million per year as part of the new agreement.

The 2023 season will be the final one with the SEC Game of the Week being televised on CBS by Gary Danielson and Brad Nessler.

Beginning in 2024, the new ESPN-ABC television rights deal goes into effect. Among the changes for the SEC include moving the top game to the 3:30 time slot on ABC.

While many fans are understandably sad about the change — and specifically, the loss of the iconic CBS theme music — commissioner Greg Sankey ardently believes the move is for the best.

“What that does, and it’s something about which I’ve spoken but gets lost, is when we move to the ABC-ESPN group, we have access to more broadcast TV opportunities than perhaps we’ve ever had, certainly in recent decades,” Sankey said on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning on Friday. “In other words, 130-plus million households with access to broadcast TV, we could literally program an ABC game at noon Eastern, 3:30 Eastern and then, that primetime window on particular Saturdays. Now, ABC and ESPN have other contractual commitments. But that’s an illustration of the breadth of reach that we are about to experience.

“And we respect and appreciate our relationship with CBS, but our move to work under the Disney heading was about more than just revenue. It was about reach, so reach through broadcast TV, reach through cable and satellite, which obviously is a changing environment.”

The current agreement with CBS nets the league around $55 million per year. Under the new agreement, the SEC will reportedly take home $300 million annually in revenue to be divided between the member schools.

College football is set to undergo many changes in the next couple years, and a large shakeup to the current TV rights agreement structure is one of them. But if Sankey — and the reporting about the contract — are to be believed, it will be in the SEC’s best interest.

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SEC announces $721 million revenue distribution for 2021-22 fiscal year

The SEC continues to earn record-breaking amounts of money for the product it produces, and Florida is one of 14 universities that help make it happen.

On Thursday, Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey announced that $721.8 million in total revenue was split up among the 14 member universities for the 2021-22 fiscal year.

The distribution average fell just short of the $50 million mark at $49.9 million per university, which is down from $54.6 million on average a year ago. Of the $721.8 million, $23.3 million was retained by programs that made bowl games to help pay for travel and game expenses. That means Florida likely received over $50 million in revenue distribution when all was said and done.

“The SEC’s annual revenue distribution significantly enhances the ability of our universities’ athletics programs to provide the highest level of support for the thousands of student-athletes who participate in sports each year on our campuses,” Sankey said. “This commitment to an impactful and life-changing experience encompasses superior support in coaching, training, academic counseling, medical care, mental health, nutrition, life-skills development and extended health coverage for our student-athletes.”

The conference brings in money from television agreements, post-season bowl games, the College Football Playoff, the SEC Football Championship Game, the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, NCAA Championships and a supplemental surplus distribution, according to the league office.

Distribution payments should only increase over the next few years for the SEC. The conference starts a new television deal with ESPN next year and will benefit from the eventual additions of Texas and Oklahoma.

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SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey wants to eliminate the early signing period

Sankey said signing day needs to revert back to the postseason.

Since the early signing period was first instituted in 2017, we’ve witnessed a gradual — but massive — change in the timeline of high school recruiting.

Where in the past players would sign the first week of February, now, the vast majority are inking their letters of intent in December — all while coaches are preparing for bowl games to managing the coaching carousel and scouting for talent in the transfer portal.

It’s certainly hectic, and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said that changes need to be made to take a bit off coaches’ plates. In an interview with The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach, Sankey said that signing day must be pushed back.

“We’re crushing coaches in December,” Sankey said. “We’re going to add Playoff games (in December). We have to change early signing.”

Sankey elaborated that the solution isn’t necessarily to keep signing day in February, but he said it’s important that signing day be moved to the postseason after bowl games and coaching staffs have been finalized.

“I would suggest we have to pivot back,” Sankey said. “Maybe it doesn’t have to be the first Wednesday in February like it is, but we have to get through the postseason. We have to get through coaching transitions. It ought to be done in the appropriate timeframe. It should not be disrupting seasons.”

It’s certainly easy to see where Sankey is coming from — especially as it applies to new coaches, who now often have just two or three weeks to finalize a transition recruiting class. Some change will likely need to be made, but with the proliferation of signing early, it’s hard to see how this is addressed effectively.

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SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has had an ‘honest conversation’ with Hugh Freeze this week

Sankey says that he looks forward to working with Hugh Freeze again.

Auburn’s decision to hire Hugh Freeze came with backlash.

Sure, Freeze has won plenty of football games, some of which came against SEC foes, but his shady off-the-field past at both Ole Miss and Liberty has given several Auburn fans plenty of concern regarding Freeze.

SEC Commissioner [autotag]Greg Sankey[/autotag] was in the first full year of his current role when Freeze resigned in 2016 from Ole Miss after an investigation found evidence of a “pattern of personal misconduct.” He shared Thursday during a press conference ahead of Saturday’s SEC Championship Game in Atlanta that he has had a conversation with Freeze since his hiring at Auburn. Sankey did not reveal specifics to the conversation but feels that Freeze’s new opportunity will give him an opportunity to wipe his slate clean.

“I look from this point forward. We’re informed by people’s pasts. Hugh and I actually had an individual phone call earlier today, very positive,” Sankey said Thursday. “That’s not the first phone call he and I have had in the last five years. I appreciated the way he responded during his press conference. And I respect the fact that he and I, over the succeeding years since his departure from Ole Miss, could have candid and honest conversation.”

Sankey says that he welcomes Freeze back to the SEC, and believes that he has had opportunities to leave his past behind him.

“He’s now the head coach at Auburn University. I wish them well, there’s a lot of work to do,” Sankey said. “And he kind of brought me up to speed on some of that this morning. And I’m confident there’s been plenty of opportunities for learning over the years and look forward to working with Hugh again.”

Freeze was hired by Auburn on Nov. 28 to replace [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag], who posted a 9-12 record over a season and a half on the Plains.

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Photos: SEC media days opening day

SEC media days is underway. What are some of the top talking points and who is interviewing on July 18?

SEC media days has opened ahead of the 2022 college football season. The conference has tons of interesting talking points these days amid the constantly changing landscape of college football.

The SEC has 14 members right now, but Texas and Oklahoma are currently scheduled to join the conference in 2025. Other conferences across the country are expanding. The Big Ten will add USC and UCLA in the future.

Name, image and likeness deals are another major talking point. How should they be regulated? Who is using them the most in recruiting?

Lastly, one thing has remained the same in college football: the SEC dominates. The Georgia Bulldogs won the conference another national championship last season. The SEC will likely have the top-ranked team for the 2022 season, Alabama.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly, Ole Miss head Lane Kiffin, and Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz highlight some of the top speakers for July 18:

Greg Sankey discusses SEC single-division format

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey discusses SEC single-division format.

The Southeastern Conference media days kicked off Monday at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey discussed the future of the conference with Oklahoma and Texas slated to begin competition in 2025.

“As you know, when we go through this change, we are considering how to schedule — but our football scheduling model is still under consideration,” Sankey announced.

Sankey mentioned there were “deep and productive conversations” about future SEC scheduling at the spring meetings in Destin, Florida last month.

“Those conversations actually began back at our meetings in August,” he said. “When we concluded our discussion in Destin, we had a focus placed on a single division model, with the ability to accommodate either an eight-game or nine-game conference schedule.

“We ended with the understanding that more questions needed to be answered including the general timeline and the issues that need to be addressed as we think forward now about the College Football Playoff. We have to dig through a tie-breaking procedure. We have over a quarter century in divisions and we understand all the nuances about how to break ties. We have to dig a bit deeper there with the single division concept in front of us. We want to understand the impact through the use of analytics on bowl eligibility for our teams who are growing their programs, and College Football Playoff access dependent on the number of teams that might be included. There are a range of possibilities being considered. We have time to make a decision. As you’ve seen before with us, particularly in the last few years, as we dealt with some difficult issues, we’re going to use that time to inform our decision-making and not be subject to an arbitrary deadline.”

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Greg Sankey discusses if Oklahoma, Texas will play in SEC before 2025

Greg Sankey discusses if Oklahoma and Texas will play in the SEC before the 2025 season.

The Southeastern Conference media days returned to the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia Monday.

SEC media days were held at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in 2018.

The 2022 media days are taking place July 18-21 and SEC Network is televising the annual event.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey kicked off media days Monday.

Sankey was asked if he anticipates Oklahoma and Texas to compete in the SEC prior to the 2025 season.

“That’s not up to me,” Sankey said. “That’s about the relationship between Oklahoma, Texas and the Big 12. We are focused on the addition being effective July 1, 2025.”

The SEC granted membership to Oklahoma and Texas in July 2021.

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2022 SEC media days: Greg Sankey’s speaking time announced

2022 SEC media days: Greg Sankey’s speaking time announced

The Southeastern Conference media days are returning to the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

SEC media days were held at the College Football Hall of Fame and The Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in 2018.

The 2022 media days will take place July 18-21 and SEC Network will televise the annual event.

2022 SEC media days schedule for each head coach

2022 SEC media days: Speaking times announced for all head coaches

Vols’ student-athletes announced to attend 2022 SEC media days

Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey will speak from the main stage July 18 between 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. EDT.

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