Mike Slive
Commissioner
Southeastern Conference
Slive has at least two of the trickiest jobs in college sports. As SEC commissioner he’s looking into launching a dedicated SEC television network, aware of the challenges the Big Ten has faced. As head of basketball for the NCAA starting next season, he’s responsible for overseeing the right tournament picks, stewarding the March Madness brand, and making the men’s tournament more relevant to new fans. His decade of experience as coordinator of the ever-controversial BCS won’t hurt. | Greg Shaheen
Senior vice president, basketball, business strategies
NCAA
As the architect of March Madness from a logistical standpoint, Shaheen is in charge of game times, game marketing, coach and player accessibility — all of them charged topics — and more. He needs to protect the interests of the participants and reconcile them with the interests of the fans and of the NCAA’s television patron, CBS. At the same time, he has to take the long view in trying to build equity into the NCAA and March Madness brands. |
Tony Petitti
Executive vice president
CBS Sports
Petitti’s job is to look to the future. Carrying essentially the same 64/65-team format for two decades, the NCAA men’s tournament might be due for a change. And with CBS now in ownership of CBS-Sports.com and CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV), Petitti needs to maximize the effectiveness of cross-platform programming to help the network’s college properties reach their potential. Petitti’s job bridges tradition and innovation as much as anyone in college sports. | Rob Temple
Vice president, sports management
ESPN Customer Marketing and Sales
Temple is where programming and marketing intersect at ESPN, and for college sports, he has many mandates. He has to find ways to make early-season men’s games stand out against NFL and college football programming, he has to find — and sell — synergies among ESPN’s units and with CBS, a sales partner on many college basketball deals. He has to sell for the NCAA women’s tournament, which ESPN carries in full. And he has to find innovative ways to integrate the NCAA’s sponsors throughout ESPN programming. |
Sue Donohue
Vice president, women’s basketball
NCAA
You could argue that Donohue has the most important job in women’s sports. With NCAA women’s basketball growing, and with corporate America increasingly interested in women as purchasers and women’s sports as a conduit to reach them, women’s college hoops is a potential golden goose, and Donohue is tending it. Donohue’s target audience extends beyond hoops fans to casual sports fans and fans overseas. | | Turnkey Sports Poll | | The following are results of the Turnkey Sports Poll taken in January. The survey covered more than 800 senior-level sports industry executives spanning professional and college sports. |  Should the field for “March Madness” (the NCAA men’s basketball tournament) be expanded? | | No – it’s the right size now | 90.46% | | Yes – from 64 to 128 schools | 6.22% | | Yes – all Division I programs should get a shot | 2.90% | | No response/Not sure | 0.41% | | How likely is it that “March Madness” will be expanded in the next 5 years? | | Somewhat unlikely | 34.44% | | Somewhat likely | 30.71% | | Highly unlikely | 23.65% | | Highly likely | 3.32% | | No response/Not sure | 7.88% | | Source: Turnkey Sports & Entertainment in conjunction with SportsBusiness Journal. Turnkey Intelligence specializes in research, measurement and lead generation for agencies, brands and properties. Visit www.turnkeyse.com. | |
Dan Gavitt
Associate commissioner, men’s basketball
Big East Conference
Interesting now, interesting going forward. Son of Dave (founder of the Big East and still a mentor to Dan’s boss, conference Commissioner Mike Tranghese), Dan Gavitt is known as a good listener, which can’t hurt, since he has 16 Big East athletic directors bending his ear about men’s basketball. Hired to take work pressure off Tranghese, Gavitt is viewed by some as a potential future commissioner. The prospect of that is worth watching closely. |
— Compiled by Noah Liberman
