INDIANAPOLIS — Back in June, the Big Ten unanimously voted to add two universities to the conference — USC and UCLA.
On Tuesday, the commissioner of the Big Ten detailed what’s next for the conference.
The start of college football season is only six Saturdays away, but the focus at Big Ten Media Days is on the future thanks to a shifting landscape.
Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren took to the podium to kick things off, opening up about the decision to add USC and UCLA in 2024.
“These are two academic and athletic institutions and a strong location in Los Angeles with great rich history and tradition, who are innovative, who are forward-thinking, who are bold,” Warren said.
Warren said the Big Ten may not be done expanding, leaving open a five-year window for more potential changes.
“We will not expand just to expand,” Warren said. “It will be strategic, it will add additional value to our conference, and it will provide a platform to even have our student-athletes be put on a larger platform.”
The commissioner is excited about the opportunities this will create for student-athletes, especially for name image and likeness deals, but Warren isn’t fully happy with how NIL is being handled.
“I am disappointed that we still have to operate with these various patchwork of laws from a state-level standpoint,” Warren said. “We need federal legislation to help put in some guardrails to make it even more cleaner, to make sure the name, image and likeness is not used as a recruiting inducement. So we have a lot of work to do, even from a political standpoint.”
With the Big Ten expanding, Warren also voiced support to expand the College Football Playoff.
“I’m 100% supportive for College Football Playoff expansion,” he said. “What is that right number? We’ll figure it out. I’m confident we’ll get College Football Playoff expansion resolved. I feel very strongly that we need to open it up to have multiple media partners.”
Warren is optimistic these changes can lead to the prosperity and longevity of the Big Ten, but vowed to keep the student-athlete at the heart of all discussions.
“I want to make sure that we not only make the right decisions that what’s right, right now, for our student-athletes and for our games and our competitions and our academic opportunities, and our fans, but I want to make decisions that, when we look back 30 years from now, that people will say that the Big Ten Conference was ahead of the curve in making these decisions,” Warren said.
