SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and sports commentator Paul Finebaum are openly pushing back against the newly introduced Protect College Sports Act. Just when college football thought Congress might finally bring some order to the NIL landscape, a new fight has appeared out of nowhere. And at the center of it all is a billionaire booster who has suddenly found himself in the crosshairs of the sport’s biggest names.

During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, the two didn’t hold back when discussing how this federal legislation, which was introduced by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators to create a uniform national standard for college sports, could mess with the landscape of college football. And the primary target of their frustration is Cody Campbell, an influential billionaire Texas Tech booster and the chairman of the university system’s board of regents, who has successfully caught the attention of powerful Washington lawmakers.

Finebaum went directly on the attack, labeling Campbell as the “billionaire behind the curtain” and accusing him of aggressively pulling political strings to reshape college athletics to better fit his own private agenda. Sankey further connected the dots by linking Campbell’s heavy lobbying efforts directly to outside private equity firms that are desperately trying to find a loophole to invest in and profit from college sports. He warned that these outside entities are manipulating the legislative conversation.

A major sticking point in this drama is a provision in the bill that allows college athletic conferences to pool and sell their media rights collectively. Campbell has been pitching this idea for a while, claiming it could generate billions of dollars that would help save smaller sports programs. However, Sankey completely disagrees and has previously called the idea a total misrepresentation of how college athletic finances actually work.

Sankey is also incredibly frustrated with how other leagues, specifically the ACC and the Big 12, handled the situation. Both conferences quickly jumped on board and publicly endorsed the Protect College Sports Act. The 61-year-old publicly expressed his disappointment, noting that these leagues rushed into a decision and signed off on the legislation without ever having a real conversation with the SEC or the Big Ten first.

According to Sankey and a joint statement with the Big Ten, the current text of the legislation is deeply flawed because it unfairly singles out the SEC and the Big Ten for heavy-handed regulations while giving other leagues a pass. Given that the SEC and Big Ten bring in the absolute highest television ratings and hold the most lucrative independent media contracts in the country, they view the bill’s restrictions as a targeted attack on their financial success.

Sankey argued that maintaining independent decision-making is what made these premier conferences so successful for decades.

The bill also includes specific wording designed to prevent a total breakaway ‘Super League’ consisting only of top-tier football powerhouses, obviously, the SEC and the Big 10.

However, Tony believes it’s baloney and sets the record straight once and for all.

Greg Sankey outright denies the ‘Super League’ talk

Lawmakers in Washington have repeatedly used the imminent threat of a rogue super league to justify why Congress needs to step in with a limited antitrust exemption to regulate the sport.

But during his chat with Finebaum, Sankey flat-out denied these rumors, echoing recent comments from Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti by calling the super league narrative a total fabrication and an inaccurate talking point used by outside entities to force bad legislation.

“It seems to be the tipping point in this discussion is this notion, an erroneous notion. I want to be clear about that. And then I shared this with Senator Cruz, along with my colleague Tony Petitti. We are not having some conversation about a merger (Super league),” Tony said. “In fact, Paul, I do not want the SEC network to somehow be confused with the Big 10 Network. Okay, just so you and I are clear, I don’t think our fans want that. I don’t think anybody wants that. I think the debate between the fan bases of the two conferences is outstanding.”

Sankey feels the Senate Commerce Committee rushed its processes and missed the mark entirely on what long-term stability looks like. Even though big timers like coach Nick Saban have backed the bill to stop the current “pay-for-play” chaos, powerhouses like the SEC are refusing to sign off until major adjustments are made to protect their independent revenue. All in all, it’s going to be a very confusing week ahead.