MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher torches Power Four, warns ‘karma's a b***h’

College athletics has been in a transformative period for the past several years as the advent of NIL and the introduction of the transfer portal has changed the landscape. In college football, and for the Power Four in particular, the changes have often felt drastic.

Talks remain ongoing about potentially extending the College Football Playoff, which was a four-team affair for about a decade, past the 12-team format it has had for the past two years. And often the powers driving such change seem rather monolithic.

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At least, that seems to be the feeling of MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. He offered a scathing criticism of the Power Four in an address about the state of his conference.

“I’ve been observing the continuing evolution of the intercollegiate athletics landscape over the past few years. In particular, the persistent and consistent power grab by the autonomy conferences,” Steinbrecher said. “I am tired of listening to the complaints of the autonomy conferences who believe they know the best way to run the organization.”

Many have criticized the power conferences of looking out for only their own interests. The good of the sport as a whole may well encompass other leagues, like the MAC.

To that end, Steinbrecher was blunt. He doesn’t necessarily know the right answer, but he fears the potential outcomes if momentum for the Power Four continues unchecked.

“I’m not sure if the right response to all of this is ‘be careful for what you ask for because you may get it’ or, B, ‘karma’s a b***h’ because we’re now living with what happens when the autonomy conferences make the rules,” Steinbrecher said.

SEC pushes back on pooling media rights

The SEC’s 16 presidents and chancellors pushed back on the idea of pooling of media rights included in the Senate’s bipartisan “Protect College Sports Act” in a joint statement. The “Protect College Sports Act” establishes the opportunity for FBS conferences to collectively pool their media rights if 75% of the 138 FBS schools agree to do so.

As one of the most prominent Power Four conferences, the statement is likely to put significant pressure on the bill. The statement read:

“The Southeastern Conference recognizes and appreciated the many ongoing discussions regarding potential system-wide improvements to ensure the future success of college athletics,” the SEC statement began. “The SEC has been intentional, through years of thoughtful planning and decision-making, in strategically positioning itself for future media negotiations. The conference must retain the ability to act in the best interests of its membership. A such, the SEC does not support assigning its media rights to a third party and remains firmly committed to independently conducting its media negotiations.”

On3’s Alex Byington also contributed to this report