Greg Sankey would ‘welcome’ national standards for college sports

Destin, Fla. — SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey on Monday evening outlined what congressional aid could look like for college sports, saying they are “a national system that deserves national standards.”

In his opening remarks at the SEC’s annual meetings here, Sankey addressed what college sports might look like in the wake of an agreement between the Power 5 conferences and the NCAA to settle three antitrust lawsuits.

As the terms of the settlement coalesced in recent weeks, college sports officials cautioned that it should not be seen as a magic bullet for problems in college sports — legal and otherwise — but rather as the start of a new era. Where schools share revenue with athletes.

“I think Congress still has an opportunity to use this settlement framework to enact legislation to strengthen the future of college sports,” Sankey said.

Sankey said he has already been to Washington, D.C., at least five times this year. He added that as he enters his 10th year as SEC commissioner, one notable change is the number of members of Congress on his phone. He described the effort as evolving from a “curiosity” to “a bit of interest” and that the learning required would be a “constant iteration”.

“I would welcome action between now and the election,” Sankey said. “Most people I’ve talked to say that’s unlikely, and so your educational process will continue post-election, and it will depend on who leads each party in the House and Senate, where the majorities lie, and who occupies the White House. This reality conversation guide .

“So, as unpredictable as it has been, I think it will still be unpredictable.”

Any action by Congress would likely include elements of circumventing the current patchwork of nationalization statutes and state laws. Some, but not all, of that ambiguity is expected to be alleviated by the settlement. But Sankey noted that employment remains a vexing issue and that traditionally, a group must have employee status to bargain collectively.

“The breadth of settlement gives us a way forward, a level of clarity about the future that doesn’t automatically embed employment,” he said.

Sankey said no student has ever come up to him and said he wanted to “be (taxed) like a lawyer.”

“There are those who advocate for that reality,” he added. “It takes me back to a basic statement, which is that there’s never been a better time in the history of college sports to be a student-athlete. There’s never been a better time. And again, they’re not calling me, ‘I want to be an employee.’ “

NCAA President Charlie Baker, a former governor of Massachusetts, is a regular in Washington to help gather momentum for a bill. There have been about a dozen hearings on college sports in recent years and more than a half-dozen bills drafted with little traction.

“Obviously, we’re in an election year,” Sankey said. “Congress is a challenging place to get a job done, and I say that with respect; our House and Senate members have a lot on their plates.”

Sankey also dove into several other issues that will be discussed at SEC meetings, including how the conference will approach the distribution of revenue from settlements while complying with Title IX. Sankey noted that the SEC won four national championships this year — all in women’s sports. He said the league “has to wrestle with this new segment.”

“Our tendency has been to provide some equity,” he said. “It’s a very different world. I hope we express opinions, perspectives, and we have time to learn to learn those perspectives — and then we have to work out what that means from a decision-making perspective.”

The NCAA settlement has fueled speculation about capping a team’s roster size as part of a new business model, a prospect that has caused consternation among some football coaches because an 85-man limit would likely eliminate walk-on positions. But Sankey said he told the coaches individually, “‘Hey, slow down, guys.'”

“I know other conferences have discussed it,” he said. “Coaches texted our coaches. They were fired up, and we said just wait. We’re going to have a conversation. That’s it: an idea. Understand that football gets attention, but we have 21 championship games, all with that roster. There needs to be a level conversation about the part.”

Sankey also said “something has to change” as far as how the NCAA enforces its rules — and how schools are asked to follow them. After the terms of the settlement are finalized, Sankey said he expects the league to look at state laws because they are all written differently.

“There are few options,” he said. “There’s some openness to what that might look like. I’m not going to narrow that down.”

In addition to the weighty issues surrounding the NCAA settlement, Sankey addressed the broader issues the league will discuss this week, including the player availability report. It’s a project some staff members have been working on since last summer, but Sankey said no decision is expected this week.

“We don’t want to rush into anything,” he said. “It’s not injury reporting. It’s a very different situation because of some of the privacy issues we have. Yet when you start looking at the number of dollars being wagered on legal sports gambling around college sports — not just football, but men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, Baseball — they all get your attention

“We need to rethink how information is managed.”

ESPN’s Dan Murphy contributed to this report.