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Bret Bielema calls for Notre Dame to join a conference after Pete Bevacqua 'super league' comments

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz06/04/26NickSchultz_7

During Wednesday’s hearing on the Protect College Sports Act, Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua addressed the idea of a “super league” in college football. His comments generated a response from Illinois coach Bret Bielema, who called for the Fighting Irish to join a conference.

While testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee, Bevacqua walked through what a possible super league would look like. He used Notre Dame as an example and said the Irish would play teams such as Alabama, Georgia, Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan as part of an NFL-like league. His remarks were about how such an idea would impact media rights.

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Bevacqua made it clear, though, that he does not support a super league. But Bielema said it would be “pretty easy” for Notre Dame to play some of those schools by joining a conference and moving on from its independent status in football.

“Some guys really like to talk about something that could happen and who they might play…. Actually it’s pretty easy just join a conference,” Bielema wrote on X.

The idea of a “super league” is part of the conversation after the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act’s introduction in the Senate last week. In the legislation, there’s a provision that would prevent such consolidation.

However, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti spoke with Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger after the hearing and denied that idea. He made it clear such conversations have not taken place between the Big Ten and the SEC or any other conference.

“Any statement that suggests the Big Ten is pursuing or wants a super league is a fabrication,” Petitti told Yahoo! Sports. “At no point in time have we discussed such a concept with the SEC or anyone else. Any suggestion otherwise comes from people outside our respective conferences.”

What Pete Bevacqua said about a ‘super league’

Pete Bevacqua, the former chairman of NBC Sports, was among the list of witnesses to testify at Wednesday’s hearing along with former Alabama coach Nick Saban and Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould. He addressed one of the most important provisions of the bill, which is the 75% threshold that would trigger the option to pool media rights.

However, Bevacqua argued that would not be the best way to maximize the value. Instead, he said a “super league” would, though he said he is not in favor of such a move.

“If you want to truly maximize the media value around the largest sport, in terms of eyeballs – which is college football – I do think the best way to do that is a super league,” Bevacqua said. “I, certainly, don’t want a super league and I’m not sure anybody necessarily wants a super league. Flooding the market, aggregating the market, bringing it to an aggregate form to major media companies, I’m not sure that’s going to drive the value some say it will.

“If you wanted to maximize media value around college football, I think you would take 24-30 teams, create unbelievably competitive scheduling where a team like Notre Dame would play Alabama, Georgia, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan and start to get a number that more closely resembles an NFL number. I could be right, I could be wrong. But that’s why I was encouraged that it’s a voluntary application and that a lot more work can be done over the course of the next series of years to see if the value can prove itself out.”