We’re forty days away from the official kick-off of the 2023 Southeastern Conference Football season, and that could only mean one thing for the SEC, it’s talking season. Inside the crowded ballroom of the Grand Hyatt in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Commissioner Greg Sankey spoke to the Southeastern Conference media on Monday morning in his annual State of the Conference speech giving Southeastern Conference fans a lot more answers than previously imagined. Commissioner Sankey knew coming into the day that he needed to provide the Southeastern Conference with a strong homefront into a future of unknown excitement and enthusiasm surrounding the Southeastern Conference.

For a league enriched with tradition, the additions of Texas and Oklahoma bring an uneasy feeling of change for those traditionalist Southeastern Conference fans; Commissioner Sankey spent the time during his speech to address the uneasiness surrounding the change. Sankey announced the Southeastern Conference would take the annual Media Day to the Lonestar State, where they will welcome a new age of the SEC at the Omni Hotel in Downtown Dallas, Texas.

Commissioner Sankey also spent an enormous amount of time urging a need for a National Standard for the NIL crisis that has plagued college athletics. According to Commissioner Sankey, a Bi-Partisan Congressional resolution would be the only answer to fix the situation of NIL.

However, for Southeastern Conference Football fans, two topics that Commissioner Sankey discussed struck certain chords for the positive.

First, following a question regarding future expansions to the Southeastern Conference, Commissioner Sankey stated that the Southeastern Conference was already a SUPER Conference and is not actively pursuing any other programs to join the conference. In the same sentence, Sankey mentioned wanting to stay inside the regional footprint of the Southeastern Conference. As the Commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, he is happy and excited about the future of the conference. For Commissioner Sankey, keeping the Southeastern Conference within the regional footprint of the Southeast is as dire to him as it is to the fans of the Southeastern Conference.

Lastly, with a new stadium on the horizon for the city of Nashville, Commissioner Sankey was asked about moving the SEC Football Championship from Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia; Sankey quickly shot down the rumors stating the Southeastern Conference would be keeping the Football Championship in Atlanta. Commissioner Sankey understands that change is on the horizon for the Southeastern Conference, but honoring the traditions is still vital for the health of the Southeastern Conference.

On keeping the Southeastern Conference Football Championship in Atlanta,

We are going to focus our football game on what is really the envy of the college football championship world, and that’s what we do in Atlanta. So that’s where our focus, is for that particular championship.
We obviously have what is and will be a longstanding relationship with Bridgestone Arena in basketball. One of my favorite books is titled The Art of Possibility, and what Nashville is doing is opens up the art of possibility here, around football opportunities, and basketball opportunities on a national scale. Those are very much on my mind.
In fact, I’ve communicated that locally on repeated occasions.

Overall, Commissioner Sankey delivered a strong home front for the fans of the Southeastern Conference and presented a vision for an even stronger future for the SEC. Sankey did what he needed to do to present the Southeastern Conference with an honoring of the past and to pave the way forward for a future filled with new heights unimaginable to the everyday fan.