Greg Sankey (born August 3, 1964) is an American athletics administrator who has served the commissioner of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) since 2015. He was previously employed by the SEC for 13 years in various capacities under commissioner Mike Slive. Prior to that, he was the commissioner of the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

. Sankey's high profile role has led media outlets to dub him "the most powerful man in college athletics".

Early life and education

Sankey was born and raised in

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...

. Sankey started college as an engineering major and baseball player at LeTourneau College in

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in, and county seat of, Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway system, U.S. highways U.S. Route 80, 80 and U.S. Route 259, 259 converge just north of the Sabi ...

but soon returned back to New York. He earned his associate's degree from

Cayuga Community College Cayuga Community College, formerly Cayuga County Community College, is a public community college in Cayuga County, New York, United States. It is part of the SUNY system and began in 1953 as Auburn Community College. Its main campus is in Aub ...

and an undergraduate degree in education from the

State University of New York at Cortland The State University of New York at Cortland (SUNY Cortland, C-State, or Cortland State) is a public university in Cortland, New York. It was founded in 1868 and is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History The State Univ ...

in 1987. While working as the director of intramural sports at

Utica College Utica University is a private university in Utica, New York. The university has a main campus in Utica; the Robert Brvenik Center for Business Education, in downtown Utica; and satellite locations in Syracuse, New York; Latham, New York; and S ...

, he earned his master's degree in education from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

's School of Education in 1993.

Career

Sankey began his career as the director of intramural sports at

. After completing a one-year internship at athletic department of

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport, Louisiana, Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville, Louisiana, Leesville/Fort Jo ...

Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; , ), officially the City of Natchitoches, is a small city in, and the parish seat of, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 United States census, the city's population was ...

, Sankey was hired as the compliance director there. He also coached the university’s golf teams for two years and worked there until 1992. Sankey joined the

in 1992, continuing work on compliance issues, ultimately becoming commissioner in 1996. In 2002, when the SEC was having compliance issues, then-commissioner Mike Slive hired Sankey as an associate commissioner. When Slive retired in 2015, Sankey was named the league's eighth commissioner. During his tenure as commissioner, the SEC has expanded, adding

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

to the conference in July 2021. Sankey is co-chair of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

transformation committee. Sankey in March 2024 raised controversy by suggesting the NCAA men's basketball postseason tournament get rid of automatic berths, thus limiting tournament appearance and financial windfall opportunities for smaller programs and conferences. In January 2025, Sankey proposed making changes to the format of the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...

in the 2025 season.

Personal life

Sankey married his wife Cathy in November 1988 in New York. They reside in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, and have two adult daughters, one of whom went to a SEC school at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

. Sankey is an avid marathoner and has run 41 marathons. He is a Christian.

References

External links

SEC ProfileSankey on 'Cuse Conversations Podcast in 2021
1964 births Living people Syracuse University alumni State University of New York at Cortland alumni Southeastern Conference commissioners Sportspeople from Auburn, New York Sportspeople from Birmingham, Alabama {{US-sport-bio-stub