Greg Sankey-SECMD22 — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey with the opening statement Monday morning to get SEC Media Days 2022 off and rolling in Atlanta punting on most big questions. (Dale Zanine / USA TODAY Sports)

Everybody May Be Overlooking Most Important Part of SEC Decision

And it's not Nick Saban waffling or Razorbacks' zero indication of preference

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
May 30, 2023 6:00 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — If somebody has mentioned the whole new world of revenue from streaming athletics during this whole SEC 2024 schedule stuff, I missed it. You wonder if that's the caveat ESPN is going to use in these discussions.

Just look at what's happening in the NFL and other pro sports. They are putting even regular-season NFL games as the streaming-only option to watch it. You can continue to believe the way it's been in the past is a forecast of the future but broadcast revenues (like everything else) are changing.

Considering nobody knows how much more can be paid if SEC teams will add that ninth conference game every year in football. You have to wonder if the future streaming revenues is what teams should be looking at because — regardless whether you like it or not — it's headed there.

Really, they're major concern is the six teams that have won a football championship since 1992. That over 30 years, which is long enough to see some trends. If you aren't one of those six teams, it doesn't seem to carry as much weight. Arkansas isn't in that group and has been pretty quiet on the whole thing, kinda straddling the fence.

There has been some talk the league might vote to kick the can down the road for another year, but then how do you fit Texas and Oklahoma into the two divisions without a complete re-do or some geographical oddities. That doesn't really seem to make much difference these days anyway.

Longtime SEC sage Tony Barnhardt wrote a column about how the league has always prospered from being in front of the crowd, not following it. Former commissioner Roy Kramer did that by expanding in 1992, then Mike Slive followed it up with the SEC Network in 2014 and now it's Greg Sankey's turn to make some history.

In his opinion, a nine-game conference schedule is really the most logical option out there and figures it's probably the one they'll settle on doing. Now common sense (and certainly financial foresight) hasn't always shown to be the strongest among the collective group. That's why Sankey's job this year may be about as big as anything he's done.

He can reportedly just mandate it's a nine-game conference schedule and the vote really doesn't matter. Not being familiar with the by-laws of the conference, I'm guessing the multiple reports are accurate.

Sankey, who has been very careful in not putting his opinion forward too strongly, has made it pretty clear reading between the lines he's in favor of a nine-game conference schedule. But he would rather not just have to say that's where the league is going, whether the majority agree with that or not.

But he wants to get this whole matter settled to bring the Longhorns and Sooners into the league now and not postpone the whole thing for a year to put up with all of those questions (and opportunities for leaked speculation).

"I would prefer not to continue to circle the airport with the airplane," said Sankey, which may be his closing argument before any final vote later this week. "I'd prefer to land it. A league at the forefront of college athletics shouldn't stay still."

Besides, even Nick Saban shouldn't be allowed to take both sides of the whole issue. He was in favor of more league games on the schedule, referring during the 10-game all-league schedule during COVID in 2020, comparing it to just your average NFL schedule every year. Then he changed his mind when it was leaked Auburn, LSU and Tennessee would be the three permanent opponents played every year. Nobody bothered to point out to Nick they've played those three for about a century.