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Tony Petitti officially introduced as new Big Ten Commissioner

Keith Farner

By Keith Farner

Published:

Tony Petitti has been named the seventh commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, the league announced on Wednesday as it found the replacement for Kevin Warren, who is leaving to be president and CEO of the Chicago Bears.

Petitti will begin on May 15. Warren’s last day is Friday.

Petitti brings extensive experience across sports, media and business industries.

He served as deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of Major League Baseball and president and chief executive officer of MLB Network.

He’s won 14 Emmys as a senior executive at CBS Sports and ABC Sports overseeing rights acquisition deals for a variety of sports leagues and collegiate and professional sports events, including the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, regular season men’s basketball, college football, NFL, PGA Tour, the Masters, U.S. Open Tennis Championships, and the Little League World Series, as well as leading in the creation of the Bowl Championship Series to determine college football’s national champion.

“I am energized to work alongside the best athletics directors, coaches, conference staff and board in the country as – together – we continue to elevate the academic and athletic experiences and resources for our 14, soon-to-be 16, world-class universities with nearly 10,000 incredible student-athletes. Thank you to the extraordinary people and places that have led me to this next challenge in my career. I am ready to get to work for the Big Ten Conference community.”

Keith Farner

Keith Farner has written about college football for newspapers and web sites since 2005.