Report: SEC hopes to keep football championship in Atlanta beyond 2026

In 2015, the SEC signed an agreement with Mercedes-Benz Stadium to keep the conference football championship there until 2026. Now, there’s hope that agreement will last even longer.

Conversations are ongoing about extending the current deal, SEC spokesperson Herb Vincent confirmed to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. While nothing is official just yet, momentum is there to keep the SEC Championship in Atlanta for the foreseeable future.

“We’re actively engaged in discussions with Mercedes-Benz Stadium to extend our agreement to keep the SEC Football Championship game in Atlanta,” Vincent said, via the AJC’s Chip Towers. “Atlanta’s been a tremendous home for SEC football. Mercedes-Benz provides a tremendous atmosphere and we’re excited about our future in Atlanta.”

Before Mercedes-Benz Stadium was build, the SEC played its championship game at the Georgia Dome from 1994-2016. Prior to that, Birmingham’s Legion Field hosted the game from 1992-93 when the conference started playing title games.

While the AJC reported other cities such as Nashville and Dallas reached out about potentially hosting the SEC Championship, the conference appears ready to stay put in Atlanta. Nashville’s pitch included the new stadium for the Tennessee Titans, which is coming in 2016, and Dallas emerged as a potential suitor as Texas and Oklahoma prepare to join the league.

Vincent reiterated nothing is on paper yet, but the league has every intention of keeping the game in its current location.

“Right now, that’s where our focus is,” Vincent said. “Atlanta is our home.”

Paul Finebaum expects Greg Sankey to discuss ‘the biggest issues in college sports’ at SEC Media Days

The conference is currently preparing for its media days July 17-19 at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville. All eyes will be on the SEC as “talkin’ season” gets underway. The Big 12 had its media days earlier this week, but the SEC will be next up.

There are sure to be plenty of storylines, too. While realignment rumors continue to swirl, Paul Finebaum said he expects commissioner Greg Sankey to focus on some other points — notably NIL, which is an area Sankey has made the case for federal legislation.

“It’s a big moment,” Finebaum said of Sankey’s opening remarks. “Because not only are the people in that room paying attention, the people watching on television, but everyone in college sports is looking for a signal, a sign, three puffs of white smoke from from Greg Sankey into, really, what is his thought process in relation to the biggest issues in college sports? Which are NIL, safety, alignment and down the road. So that is always something that you can’t always very easily predict, but you know you’re going to get it”