Tony Petitti, Greg Sankey pushback on idea of private equity 'super leagues'
Tony Petitti and Greg Sankey may be the two strongest influences in college athletics regarding the future of college football. On Friday, those two prominent commissioners delivered scathing remarks on the prospects of a private equity “super league” model for the sport.
Across the past few days, leaders from the SEC and the Big Ten met in Nashville to discuss many topics. The concept of a super league, most notably one model dubbed “Project Rudy,” was reportedly an undercurrent to those meetings, though neither commissioner is a fan of the idea.
While meeting with the media, Petitti pushed back on the concept of a super league while saying he hasn’t seen a plan that includes details the existing conferences could not develop themselves.
“I have yet to see a single thing in any plan that contains things that we couldn’t do ourselves and do with our A4 colleagues,” said the Big Ten commissioner.
As for Sankey, the SEC’s commissioner admitted that “it’s no coincidence that both these (private equity) efforts ramped up their public relations schemes around our meeting.”
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, asked about the various "super league" proposals floating around: "I have yet to see a single thing in any plan that contains things that we couldn't do ourselves and do with our A4 colleagues."
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) October 10, 2024
Sankey said “it’s no coincidence that both these (private equity) efforts ramped up their public relations schemes around our meeting.”
— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) October 10, 2024
Sankey also claimed the idea that the Big Ten and SEC are attempting to separate from the rest of the major conferences is not “consistent with our conversation.”
Greg Sankey asked about the perception that the SEC and Big Ten may separate themselves from everyone else: "I don’t think this perception is consistent with our conversation."
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 10, 2024
Pettiti also mentioned those talking about college football as “broken” are inaccurate.
Tony Petitti: "The notion that college football is broken is not right. … It’s not broken."
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 10, 2024
While there has been nothing concrete reported from this week’s meetings, it certainly looks like the idea of a super league is not right around the corner. If the SEC and Big Ten are out on the model, it’s unlikely to gain any traction without a major change.