Report: College presidents, multiple executives discussing 'Super League' for football

Late last year, NCAA president Charlie Baker proposed a new model for college athletics. It would create a new subdivision of Division I that would allow a certain number of schools to bring NIL in-house amid the ever-changing landscape.

Now, multiple college presidents and sports executives are discussing a “Super League” model, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand and Stewart Mandel reported. It would only be for football, and non-revenue sports would stay with a conference format.

“College Sports Tomorrow” is the name of the group, which notably includes Brian Rolapp – the NFL’s No. 2 executive. Philadelphia 76ers owner David Blitzer, Len Perna of TurnkeyZRG search firm, Syracuse chancellor Kent Syverud and West Virginia president Gordon Gee are also part of the initiative. The idea would be to take the Power Four teams and Notre Dame as the 70 permanent members of the college football “Super League,” and the other FBS programs in a model that resembles promotion and relegation in European Soccer.

The 70 permanent members would be in 10-team divisions and would not move down to the second tier of the model, while an eighth division would be for teams promoted from the second tier. It’s not the first time relegation has come up as an idea for college football. Now-former Alabama coach Nick Saban is among those to suggest it, doing so in an August 2022 interview.

Officials for “College Sports Tomorrow” made a presentation to the ACC Board of Directors in February, The Athletic reported, but has not met with the other Power Four leagues – the Big Ten, Big 12 or SEC. It’s worth noting the Big Ten and SEC are also looking at the future of college sports after forming an advisory group of their own earlier this year.

As CST wanted to meet with conferences, College Football Playoff discussions also went on. The Athletic reported the March 15 deadline to approve an extension was a result of the group’s push.

“College Sports Tomorrow” would also change media rights negotiations. Under the current model, each conference has its own agreement during the regular season while the College Football Playoff has its own agreement and ESPN has the rights to Bowl Season. The “Super League” model would create one entity for those conversations and take away a selection committee for the postseason.

The future of NIL is also a factor in the group’s formation. The idea of revenue sharing remains a hot topic of conversation, and Baker’s proposal to let the schools pay athletes remains on the table. By making a football-only “Super League,” Syrverud said college football players could go off on their own so athletic departments don’t take away from non-revenue sports.

“Athletes need to be paid and are going to be paid,” Syverud told The Athletic. “Most of the rules against paying athletes, including some of those that are still in place, are likely to fall in the courts. We’re going to need to sustain women’s sports, Olympic sports and we’re going to have to have competitive equity and some methods to have a labor structure that is sensible. For all that, I think you need a more centralized national college league.”