As college sports face numerous existential crises to try to map out a coherent path forward, the SEC is already signaling their opposition to one idea floated as a potential problem solver.
There has not been much agreement throughout the past several months as power brokers across college sports and the government have failed to gain any traction at all. Donald Trump’s summits and executive orders have accomplished nothing. And the SEC and the Big Ten have been at loggerheads over expanding the College Football Playoff to 24 teams and what to do about conference championship games.
However, this week showed the signs of real progress. Senate Commerce Committee leaders Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell presented a bipartisan bill that drafted an outline for the future of college sports. Its reforms included a one-time transfer rule, five years of eligibility, limits on coaching moves in-season, antitrust protection for schools, and protections for athletes. It also would adjust the Sports Broadcasting Act to allow conferences to pool their media rights together in what would be a landmark shift for the sport.
And that’s where the SEC is already crying foul.
As the conference’s spring meetings wrapped up in Florida, the chancellors and presidents of the SEC member institutions released a joint statement opposing any pooling of media rights and remaining in control of their own destiny.
“The Southeastern Conference recognizes and appreciates the many ongoing discussions regarding potential system-wide improvements to ensure the future success of college athletics. The SEC has been intentional, through years of thoughtful planning and decision-making, in strategically positioning itself for future media negotiations. The Conference must retain the ability to act in the best interests of its membership. As such, the SEC does not support assigning its media rights to a third party and remains firmly committed to independently conducting its media negotiations.”
The idea of pooling media rights has been kicked around by the likes of Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell as a way to modernize the sport, increase revenues, and bring long-term stability.
But somewhat predictably, the SEC and Big Ten are opposed to the idea. The reasons why are purely economical, they have the most to lose. It would be like asking the Los Angeles Dodgers to pool the money they spend on salary with the Cincinnati Reds. The television revenue earned by the Power 2 far surpasses what any other conference is able to return. Pooling rights through a new joint venture would dilute not just the income of the Big Ten and SEC, but their power. The two conferences already control the College Football Playoff. By submitting to a new joint model, their dominance over the sport would effectively cease to exist.
The first rumblings have started to come from SEC country that they are content to break away from the rest of the NCAA if they feel like they have no other choice. And the longer we go without finding a middle ground, the more that actually becomes a possibility.
About Matt Yoder