Intercollegiate Forum: SEC's Slive Sits For One-On-One

Slive Plans To Remain SEC Commish As Long As He Makes Contributions

Q: The SEC's new TV deals with CBS and ESPN will generate somewhere in the neighborhood of $200M a year in revenue on average over the next 15 years. How did you end up where you did?

Slive: We were aware of the changes both in the so-called digital new media world and the traditional broadcast/cable world, and we began to think of how best to intersect the two worlds and provide the kind of distribution and stability that we wanted for our league. We began by thinking about a channel of our own. We had the benefit of the Big Ten Network, the NFL Network and The Mtn. out west, and we were able to watch the growth and the pains that those networks were going through. We said, "Why would you have a channel?" ... To the credit of ESPN, every time we raised the issue of why we wanted to do a channel, they had an answer. They came into our discussions with a significant vision and with a determination. ... Starting next year, when you’re watching television, you’ll see the SEC on CBS and the SEC on ESPN. And we hope to have at least two regional cable packages in addition to our syndication, then that’s going to be the SEC network.

Q: How much longer do you intend to continue as SEC Commissioner?

Slive: Well, my answer might differ from that of others in the conference, but I’ll remain as long as I feel I can continue to make a contribution. I have a lot of energy and no thoughts about not doing this.

Q: Finish this thought: people would be surprised to learn …

Slive: How much time I spend on the job. I’m a bit of a workaholic. When I get up, I can’t wait to get (to the office). I try to find time to read a book and have a cigar, but most of the time I work.

Q: What parallels are there between being a judge and a commissioner?

Slive: There are similar aspects to both. You have to balance the facts. But more than that, you’re a friend, a consigliere, you’re in a leadership role. It’s a combination of things. Having been a judge, I understand that half the people will be happy and the other half will not be happy.

Q: What is the next great step for the conference?

Slive: It’s going to sound so trite, but the purpose of what we do is to provide young men and women athletes -- 5,000 in the SEC -- a chance to get a quality education, graduate, play for a national championship, learn from the crucible of athletics and use that to grow up happy, satisfied people who contribute to our society. We never lose sight of why we’re doing what we’re doing.

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