Sankey: SEC breakaway talk over college bill 'honest conversations' - ESPN

TAMPA, Fla. — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday he continues to have conversations with Congressional leaders about the Protect College Sports Act but stopped short of saying whether all their suggested changes need to be implemented for the conference to support the bill.

During wide-ranging comments to open SEC Media Days, Sankey spent a large portion of his opening remarks discussing the bill, spearheaded by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), to help reshape college sports. The SEC does not support the bill in its current form, and Sankey confirmed there have been real conversations about whether the league should break away — as Georgia president Jere Morehead suggested earlier this year.

«People have talked about that,» Sankey said. «The frustrations that bring them to the point of saying we should look at something significantly different. I do not believe that is a leverage point. I think that's honest communication.»

The preference is to work together to improve the Protect College Sports Act. Sankey said the SEC has offered «10 common sense suggestions» that center on four key principles — national standards that must be enforceable; a national framework to limit state laws that are meant to circumvent rules; transparency and accountability; and establishing fair and consistent standards for organizations while preserving voluntary decision making.

«We believe changes to the act are necessary to make it most effective, and the changes we've suggested are both achievable and reasonable, and we're committed to working with Congress to move the legislation across the finish line,» Sankey said.

One of the portions of the bill the SEC is firmly against would allow conferences the option to