Tony Petitti reflects on relationship with Greg Sankey ahead of Big Ten-SEC meeting

ROSEMONT, Ill. — When Tony Petitti took over as Big Ten commissioner last year, the conference was becoming one of the top in the nation. The league was expanding – with two more additions to come at that point – and starting a lucrative media rights deal to move to the forefront of the conversation, along with the SEC.

But after Petitti replaced Kevin Warren, Big Ten leadership had a request. They wanted him to work closer with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, and the two connected quickly.

“When I took the job – I’ve been really public about saying this – one of the things I was asked to do by leadership, both the athletic directors and by the presidents and chancellors of the Big Ten, is to work more closely with the Southeastern Conference,” Petitti said at Big Ten Basketball Media Days. “That was a priority. I went to go see Greg two weeks into the job. I think it’s kind of evolved from there.”

The Big Ten and SEC are preparing to meet next week in Nashville, eight months after announcing a joint advisory group. Petitti declined to get into specifics about the meeting’s agenda, but reports indicated College Football Playoff access is on the table.

However, Petitti’s relationship with Sankey has been strong during their time together as they discuss where things stand on multiple fronts.

Tony Petitti on Greg Sankey: ‘It’s been a really good year of working together’

The two have made trips to Washington, D.C. to lobby for Congressional aid when it comes to NIL. They’re also central figures in the landmark House v. NCAA settlement, for which lawyers submitted revisions late last week after judge Claudia Wilken told them to “go back to the drawing board.”

During that time, Petitti and Sankey worked together to assess the ever-changing landscape. That helped their relationship grow.

“It’s been a really good year of working together on a lot of big projects,” Petitti said. “There’s things that we can do that impact on the field and how we can play more together and do those things, and then there’s the structural changes in college athletics.

“We’ve spent a lot of time together on that part, whether it’s efforts in Congress, whether it’s trying to get through the settlement and figure out how to implement the terms of the settlement. All those things.”

Big Ten, SEC face ‘a lot of challenges’ together

The Big Ten and SEC are widely viewed as the top two leagues. Their media rights deals and realignment moves are a big part of that conversation, and College Football Playoff access is expected to be a topic of conversation during next week’s meeting.

While looking at college athletics as a whole, Tony Petitti stressed the importance of working with other the Power 4 conferences to chart a path forward. But the issues facing the Big Ten and SEC will have to work together considering their similar circumstances.

“There are a lot of challenges that we face together,” Petitti said. “It doesn’t mean we don’t do things with others in the A4 across and the NCAA, as well, but just there’s a lot of commonality in terms of the challenges we face and what we think the opportunities are. So it just leads to a very close working relationship to try and get some things done.”