How Bryan Seeley became 'right person at right time' to lead new College Sports Commission

As the House v. NCAA settlement final approval process went along, a new entity was in the works. The College Sports Commission was preparing to take the lead on enforcing key terms of the agreement, including the NIL Go clearinghouse and roster limits.

Following Judge Claudia Wilken’s order issuing approval on Friday, the commission launched. The sense was it wouldn’t wait long to announce its new CEO, and that came shortly thereafter when Major League Baseball executive Bryan Seeley took the role.

Seeley is coming off an eight-year run with MLB, where he served as executive vice president of legal and operations. He oversaw investigations into issues such as international compensation caps while also taking on a key role in policy areas such as legalized sports betting. Before that, he served as an assistant district attorney in Washington, D.C.

Now, Seeley will oversee the College Sports Commission and play a key role in the post-House settlement landscape. As the search for a CEO went along, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said Seeley stood out right away – and he had full support of the power conferences.

“It was unanimous amongst the commissioners that he was the right person at the right time for this role,” Yormark told reporters Monday via Zoom. “And for me, he was very passionate about this opportunity.

“You want people not to run away from a situation, but to run to a situation. He ran here. And he’s very passionate to make a difference and to course-correct what’s been going on in the industry.”

What did commissioners want in CEO?

The Power Five conferences – the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC – were all defendants in the House v. NCAA case and were tasked with leading the CEO search process. They landed on Bryan Seeley, who oversaw cases such as the Atlanta Braves’ and Boston Red Sox’ circumventions of international signing rules.

As the commissioners looked for a CEO for the newly formed commission, the SEC’s Greg Sankey said they weren’t looking for one particular set of traits. However, he noted the need for someone who can step in right away to enforce terms of the settlement, and Seeley fit the bill.

“We were open to the profile,” Sankey said. “We did want an individual, whoever that may be, with significant experience working in the areas that will be on the agenda from Day One. So you think about rules, implementation, rules development, adjustments, issues around arbitration that are built into the settlement terms. … There is a process to find for anti-circumvention rules, so the ability to provide that clarity involves the plaintiff’s attorneys and a 30-day process. We also wanted someone who [had], I’ll describe in maybe non-technical terms, a level of engagement and common sense and practical experience was important. Bryan uniquely fit that bill.

“We had a broad search effort, engaged a search firm in that process. Went through a round of Zoom interviews, and then a set of in-person interviews, and Bryan rose to the top.”

Bryan Seeley, Tony Petitti overlapped at MLB

Bryan Seeley initially joined MLB in 2014 as vice president of investigations and general counsel. He then worked his way up the ladder, becoming senior vice president of investigations in 2017; senior vice president and deputy general counsel for investigations, compliance and security in 2018; and executive vice president for legal and operations in 2022.

During that time, Tony Petitti served as the head of MLB Network. He led the charge in the network’s launch in 2018 and became its COO in 2014. In 2017, he became the league’s deputy commissioner for business and media.

Now the Big Ten commissioner, Petitti, said he didn’t work with Seeley much while they were with MLB. But he heard strong reviews from commissioner Rob Manfred and deputy commissioner Dan Halem, which showed the reputation Seeley had developed.

“While we didn’t overlap on responsibilities in a significant way, having worked closely with Commissioner Manfred, just seeing the way that Commissioner Manfred and Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem relied on Bryan and the esteem that they held him in and the responsibilities he was given – and those responsibilities continued to increase during his time in MLB,” Petitti said. “He clearly was a well-regarded, thoughtful executive. The times that we did interact, you saw the patience to make good decisions, to gather information. His experience is really unique. To have league experience was a big part of this.

“At least from the perspective of the Big Ten, to have somebody who worked in the league, and the reason why I feel strongly about that is part of what we do is manage a lot of constituents. In Bryan’s role, you’re dealing 30 clubs and very competitive areas that he’s involved in making decisions. That’s very similar to what he’ll have to do in this role.”

Commission’s decisions ‘will have competitive outcomes’

While working for MLB, Bryan Seeley’s office had an impact on all 30 of the league’s teams. By comparison, the College Sports Commission will impact the Power Five conferences, their athletics departments and more across the country.

It’s a larger scale than the responsibilities at MLB, Petitti noted. However, he still thinks that knowledge can translate well.

“Decisions that get made by this enforcement entity ultimately will have competitive outcomes,” Petitti said. “So Bryan has that experience of managing – not as large as what you see in the college space, but a very significant space. And I think that’s experience that made his candidacy to me extremely unique.

“Early on, when I heard that he was interested in the position, I thought it was a really great thing for all of us. And it was a very talented pool of individuals that were in the search for this job.”

The College Sports Commission will work particularly closely with the NIL Go clearinghouse that will be in place while also helping enforce rules around revenue-sharing and roster limits, according to its announcement. Seeley understood that, and Sankey said he’s preparing to navigate the space.

But while Seeley will lead the commission, the conferences will still play key roles in the post-House landscape. Sankey said all parties understand that.

“I was impressed with his commitment of time and understanding and preparing what’s in front of us,” Sankey said. “Not to mention the background, the work he’s done and his ability to talk about where there are issues that are parallel to his experience, or where there may be intersections or where there may be points of divergence that will be informed by his experience, but requires some more work on all of our parts.”