With Kevin Warren’s departure, Big Ten Presidents Have A Massive Decision To Make

Kevin Warren’s departure as Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference last week leaves the organization at a crossroads-what do the university presidents want from their next commissioner?

Warren’s legacy includes the newly signed, $7 billion, 7 year media rights deal, launching the Big Ten into a stratosphere only seen by the NCAA March Madness tournament rights. He also made some friends (and many enemies) by luring UCLA and USC away from the Pac-12 conference, raiding what has long been viewed a “like-minded” sister conference in academics and athletic traditions. The Big Ten will soon be comprised of 16 schools, matching the SEC.

He also will be remembered for a rocky start, trying to navigate the Covid crisis while first suspending, then restarting, the 2020 football season at a time when not much was known about athlete safety and protection from the virus. Reportedly, he did not have many supporters in the ranks of the Athletic Directors and a few Presidents, and enlisted the help of a crisis communications firm to manage much of his tenure in the conference.

The Big Ten’s Council of Presidents (known as COP/C) released a statement shortly after Warren’s announcement saying “The Big Ten Conference remains in a position of strength during this pivotal time in collegiate athletics and its world-class institutions remain committed to providing an exceptional experience for our student-athletes. The COP/C will work with Commissioner Warren during this transition phase and begin a national search for the seventh Big Ten Conference Commissioner.”

What should the Big Ten Presidents be looking for in their next Commissioner?

Speculation that another Power 5 commissioner would be a natural fit has been rampant, with current ACC leader (and former Northwestern AD) Jim Phillips being the sentimental choice. But the landscape has drastically changed since former commissioner Jim Delany left in 2020, when Phillips was last mentioned as a candidate. The Big Ten does not need a media rights negotiator, as that likely won’t be a concern for 5-7 years. They also don’t need someone who will “steady the ship”. Instead, they need a very modern kind of innovator.

Coming out of the 2023 NCAA Convention this past weekend, one message came through loud and clear in the NCAA’s “State of College Sports” address, led by Baylor President Linda Livingstone. “Congress is really the only entity that can affirm student-athletes unique status," she told the packed house. Livingstone challenged everyone in the room (and particularly presidents) to lobby their Congressional representatives on behalf of the NCAA’s stated wish to have athletes remain “student-athletes” and not become employees of the institutions. The organization also wants a partial antitrust exemption to protect it from the millions and millions of dollars spent annually on legal fees defending its desire to have a national structure for rules and policies (aka “a level playing field”).

The next commissioner should have a Plan B if the Congress in 2023 does NOT grant these two wish list items; in fact, the likelihood of this passing through both chambers and being signed by President Biden diminishes greatly in 2024 (an election year), resulting in pressure placed on conferences to become more self-sustaining. While a $1 billion annual media rights payment is quite substantive today, some of the outcomes from the Convention suggest even more spending is coming for coaching staffs, mental health and NIL advisors; additional physicians at both practices and games for multiple contact sports (not just football); and lengthening of the seasons and eliminating volunteer positions in many sports will add more expense to the bottom line.

Here are some of the skill sets required of this modern innovator:

• Address the changing interest in Big Ten games by Gen Z and those coming after. While media companies are innovating with streaming, ‘mic-ups’ for coaches and players in game, and commentators doing goofy things on the sidelines, athletic departments still pay attention to selling tickets and gaining eyeballs via sponsorships and marketing. How will you reinvent the Conference to appeal to the “Next-Gen”?
• Embrace the “devolution” of rules infractions and eligibility issues from the NCAA to the conference office. Work to streamline the overwhelming workload that campus compliance officers are feeling trying to manage this complex and uncertain landscape. Embrace technology that will help them do their jobs efficiently across the entire organization.
• Deal with the exploding issues of data and gambling. A few other FBS schools and conferences have struck sponsorship deals with gaming entities. Athletes, coaches and presidents all need to fully understand the tradeoffs being made by these partnerships. Companies want access to player data to set betting lines and parlays, and they want access to the student population to market to them. While much discussion is happening on the lack of guardrails for NIL regulations, there is almost no discussion happening on data collection (except how much conferences can get paid by the gaming companies).

The next Commissioner of the Big Ten needs to be both an innovative leader and a teacher. He/she must lead through headwinds rarely seen before in college athletics, while remembering that 12 of the 14 universities have had presidential turnover in the last two years. While impressive leaders in their own rights, many will arrive on campus with minimal oversight experience of big-time college sports. They will need a sherpa to provide them with the pros and cons facing them with every decision.

The NCAA’s decision to hire former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker was an ‘outside the box’ hire, likely designed to hopefully achieve their stated goal of Federal intervention. The Big Ten has multiple opportunities and challenges in front of it-what priorities will the presidents and chancellors set for this new hire? With 350 teams, nearly 10,000 athletes, and millions of passionate alumni, there will be many to choose from.