Paul Finebaum: Greg Sankey can do 'almost nothing' about NIL concerns

NIL was a talking point for Greg Sankey during the course of his appearance behind the mic at SEC Media Days on Monday. However, Paul Finebaum believes not even the Southeastern Conference’s commissioner can get college athletics, specifically the NCAA, out of the bed they made.

Finebaum shared his thoughts on the position of NIL on SportsCenter while in Nashville. He said that Sankey can’t even get the NCAA out of their own mess from when this all started a few years back. Now, with them waiting on Congress to make a ruling, all Finebaum can say is that they did it to themselves as far as the patient that they’ll have to have.

“He may be powerful but there’s almost nothing he can do about this. Because this is a ball that was dropped many years ago by the NCAA. They could have done something about it. They had all the tools. But they punted,” said Finebaum. “They did not want to deal with a litigious society that they are currently in. And we’ve seen the Supreme Court rule against them and everyone else lately.”

“So now what they have done is the most unorthodox way of getting anything done. They are now going to Congress,” Finebau said. “And Congress, quite frankly, has more important things to worry about.”

Again, Sankey had plenty to say about NIL while speaking inside the Grand Hyatt Hotel earlier today. He himself went on to say that the problems surrounding name, image, and likeness have reached the point of needing congressional help in order to clear up.

“The reality is only Congress can fully address the challenges facing college athletics,” Sankey said. “The NCAA cannot fix all of these issues. The courts cannot resolve all of these issues. The states cannot resolve all of these issues. Nor can the conferences. Whether Congressional action is achievable is a matter of debate. Much debate.”

National uniformity is something that coaches across college sports have been looking for since NIL went into effect. Finebaum just suggest to not hold your breath, though, considering what all else that Congress is focused on comparatively.

Sankey addresses possibility of moving 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 addressed the possibility of the SEC holding their title game 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.”