2016-media-guide

THE SEC
GREG SANKEY
COMMISSIONER
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
Greg Sankey is the eighth commissioner of the
Southeastern Conference, assuming that position on
June 1, 2015, after serving on the SEC staff for 13 years
in various leadership roles.
He introduced his concept of “Scholars, Champions,
Leaders” to describe the impact of the SEC in his first
major address as commissioner at SEC Football Media
Days in July of 2015.
Now beginning his second year at the helm of the
SEC, Sankey has quickly established himself as an
advocate for the student-athlete, creating a framework
to provide young people in the Conference with new
leadership opportunities and resources to succeed
at the highest levels of academic achievement and
competitive success.
One of Sankey’s early actions as commissioner was
to create a new position in the SEC off ice for a Director
of Student-Athlete Engagement, a role now filled by a
former University of Florida women’s basketball studentathlete
who focuses on creating opportunities for SEC
current and former student-athletes to participate in
Conference leadership and prepare for life after their
intercollegiate athletics participation concludes.
At the May 2016 SEC Spring Meetings, Sankey
introduced new Student-Athlete Leadership Councils in
the sports of Football and Men’s and Women’s Basketball
which, in addition to the Conference’s longstanding
Student-Athlete Advisory Commissioner, provide
student-athletes with additional opportunities to engage
with campus leaders and Conference off ice staff.
Even before his appointment as commissioner of
the SEC, Sankey led national efforts to enhance the
student-athlete experience. Working in concert with
former SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, he played a
central role in crafting the new autonomy governance
structure of the NCAA, designed to put the studentathlete
first in the development of new legislation.
Upon assuming the role of commissioner, Sankey
moved swiftly to address issues critical to college
athletics on the Conference and national levels. He
appointed a Working Group on Student-Athlete Conduct,
a collection of campus leaders established to engage in
a continued conversation on student-athlete issues for
the purpose of making recommendations for Conference
policies or institutional best practices to shape studentathlete
behavioral expectations in the SEC.
When Sankey first joined the SEC in 2002, he
played a central role in former commissioner Mike
Slive’s efforts to reshape the SEC’s enforcement and
compliance program. To renew and strengthen the
commitment made by league institutions to a culture
of compliance in the SEC, last year Sankey appointed
a Working Group on Compliance, Enforcement and
Governance, designed to review and update principles
which formed the foundation of the Conference
membership’s commitment.
Sankey’s first year as commissioner was highlighted
by a series of “Listen and Learn” visits to each of the
14 campuses of the SEC. He met with athletics and
university administration to build on existing relationships
between the campuses and the Conference off ice and to
strengthen the bond of the league’s institutions.
In addition, he spent considerable time on each
campus with student-athletes to hear first-hand of
2016 RAZORBACK FOOTBALL
their experiences in competition and in the classroom,
and their expectations of the college experience and
the governing bodies that lead college athletics.
Another priority under Sankey’s leadership is to
effectively publicize the success stories of the SEC.
As a first step, the SEC collaborated with Conference
institutions and the SEC Network to create a series of
30-second video spots titled “I Am The SEC” which
featured compelling off-the-field stories of SEC
student-athletes in all sports. The spots run during
SEC Network events throughout the athletic year.
To build on this initiative for the future, Sankey
engaged the SEC with The Richards Group, a highly
successful national branding and marketing agency,
to develop a comprehensive branding and messaging
campaign to positively feature the SEC, its studentathletes,
alumni, leaders and fans.
Sankey has solidified the future of the Conference’s
post-season championship events, reaching an
agreement with Mercedes-Benz Stadium to host
the SEC Football Championship in Atlanta through
2026, and working with the City of Hoover to create
a unique “baseball campus” to host the SEC Baseball
Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium under
a new agreement that starts in 2017. In addition,
Sankey recognized the significance of the removal
of the Confederate Battle Flag in the state of South
Carolina by establishing Greenville as the site of the
SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament in 2017.
In his first year as commissioner, the SEC won five
national titles, claiming championships by Alabama
in football, Georgia in women’s swimming & diving,
Auburn in equestrian and Arkansas in both men’s and
women’s outdoor track & field.
Sankey remains active within the NCAA committee
structure, which includes his current service as Chair
of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions.
Sankey, 52, joined the SEC staff in 2002 as Associate
Commissioner to oversee the SEC’s governance,
enforcement and compliance program, and later
added supervision of the league’s championships staff
to his responsibilities. He was elevated to Executive
Associate Commissioner and Chief Operating Off icer
for the league off ice in 2012.
Prior to joining the SEC staff, Sankey was
Commissioner of the Southland Conference for nearly
seven years. He joined the Southland Conference
staff in 1992 where he served as both assistant and
associate commissioner before he was named
commissioner in 1996 at the age of 31.
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Prior to his term at the Southland Conference he
was director of compliance and academic services
at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches,
Louisiana. While at Northwestern State, Sankey also
coached the Demons’ golf teams for two years, earning
the Golf Coaches Association of America District VI
Coach of the Year award in 1991. Previous to his tenure
at Northwestern State, he was the director of intramural
sports at Utica College in upstate New York.
A native of Auburn, New York, Sankey earned his
master’s degree from Syracuse University and his
undergraduate degree from the State University of
New York College at Cortland. Sankey and his wife,
Cathy, reside in Birmingham, Alabama, and have two
adult daughters, Hannah and Moriah.
SEC NETWORK
The Southeastern Conference and ESPN signed a
20-year agreement through 2034 to create and operate
a multiplatform network which launched August 14,
2014. The television network and its digital companion
SEC Network + carry more than 1,500 events annually.
SEC Network televises over 45 SEC football games, 100
men’s basketball games, 60 women’s basketball games,
75 baseball games, and other events from across the
SEC’s 21 sports annually. Programming includes in-depth
analysis and storytelling in studio shows, daily news and
information with SEC Now, original content such as SEC
Storied and SEC Inside, and more. Hundreds of additional
live events are offered exclusively on SEC Network+
via WatchESPN and SECNetwork.com. The network is
available on 9 of the top 10 cable providers in the US and
is also available in more than 50 countries throughout
Europe, Middle East and Africa via ESPN Player, ESPN’s
sports streaming service in the region.
Chuck Dunlap
Director of Communications
Cell ..................... (205)-936-9683
O ff ic e ....................205-458-3000
EXT. 3047
Email ........... CDunlap@sec.org
Twitter ...................@SEC_Chuck