Tony Petitti calls idea of Big Ten-SEC super league 'a fabrication' after Senate hearing

In the Protect College Sports Act, filed in the Senate last week, there’s a provision that aims to prevent a potential “super league” between the Big Ten and SEC. That idea also came up multiple times during Wednesday’s hearing on the bipartisan bill, but Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti called it a “fabrication” while speaking with Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger.

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced the Protect College Sports Act last week in a key moment as the NCAA continues to search for federal legislation. It includes provisions such as the “Lane Kiffin Rule” regarding coach movement, as well as a rule preventing consolidation into a “super league.”

[ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ]

Petitti denied conversations have taken place in the Big Ten about forming a super league, of sorts, with the SEC or any other conference. He also told Yahoo! Sports the Big Ten is “looking to grow” the budding rivalry with the SEC. Notably, the two conferences are preparing to meet with Cruz on Thursday.

“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.”

Wednesday’s hearing saw witnesses such as former Alabama coach Nick Saban, Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua and Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould testify before the Senate Commerce Committee. Saban spoke out about rising roster costs in college football and detailed the increased funds to Alabama’s collective during his final years on the sidelines and after his retirement.

Pete Bevacqua on ‘super league,’ pooling of media rights

Pete Bevacqua, though, was among those who spoke out against a “super league” concept. He addressed the idea while discussing one of the most important parts in the Protect College Sports Act: the option to pool media rights by reaching a 75% threshold. That notably resulted in pushback from the Big Ten and SEC in a joint statement released Tuesday night.

SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter

While Bevacqua made it clear he’s not supportive of a potential super league, he said it would likely be the best way to get the best value in the open media market. But because he’s against an NFL-like league of that nature, he supports the optional nature of the media rights portion of the bill.

“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.”