Greg Sankey addresses possibility of moving SEC football championship to Nashville

The Tennessee Titans will have a new domed stadium in the city of Nashville soon. This has the potential to host numerous events, as well as Titans games. That includes SEC football games.

While SEC media days were underway in Nashville, commissioner Greg Sankey was asked about the possibility that the SEC Championship Game is played there in the future, rather than in Atlanta. However, Sankey shot down this idea quickly.

“We are going to focus our football game on what is really the envy of the college football championship world, and that’s what we do in Atlanta,” Sankey said. “So that’s where our focus, is for that particular championship.”

At the same time, that doesn’t mean that the SEC won’t have events in Nashville in the future. It is a major southern city and home to one of the SEC’s member institutions. So, it does make sense to run a lot of events out of the city.

“We obviously have what is and will be a longstanding relationship with Bridgestone Arena in basketball. One of my favorite books is titled The Art of Possibility, and what Nashville is doing is opens up the art of possibility here, around football opportunities, basketball opportunities on a national scale. Those are very much on my mind,” Sankey said.

“In fact, I’ve communicated that locally on repeated occasions.”

One thing that won’t be held in Nashville is the 2024 media days, which it was announced will take place in Dallas, Texas next year. That’s as the SEC welcomes the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners to the conference.

Greg Sankey calls for changes to the SEC recruiting schedule

One thing Greg Sankey emphasized that he wants to see change during SEC media days is the recruiting schedule.

“Yeah very much so. I went out — well, let’s go back. I sat in locker rooms at bowl games. Our head coaches — when they’re worried about coaching and I’d have 30-minute conversations with some, not everyone, about what December’s like for them right now. Yeah, you have coaching decisions, head coach and assistant coach. You have signing day, you have the transfer portal, you know, bowl games, and you have a playoff and that playoff will have more December activity. Not to mention the regular season, including in the start of the conference championship,” Sankey said.

“One of the learning experiences from those conversations then in January, February, March. And our decision is… not only is December miserable for football coaches. April, May, June are not miserable, because we put so much intensity upon it (in December).”