SEC chief seeks structural overhaul with collective bargaining and expanded playoff

Tennessee athletics director Danny White has called for a fundamental restructuring of college sports governance, urging the implementation of a collective bargaining agreement and a 24-team college football playoff during the SEC spring meetings in Miramar Beach, Florida. Speaking to reporters on May 26, White emphasised that these reforms must apply across the entire industry rather than through conference-specific breakaways, arguing that the current landscape lacks the structural integrity required for long-term stability.

White prioritised the collective bargaining agreement as a critical mechanism to standardise player pay, limit movement through the transfer portal, and resolve ongoing legal uncertainties. He noted that he has raised the concept in every meeting he has attended over the past three years, though it has not yet gained sufficient traction to become a serious agenda item. White argued that a formal agreement would define player compensation, multi-year contracts, and hard salary caps, potentially requiring student-athletes to be classified as employees and ending the era of amateurism.

The call for a collective bargaining agreement comes as the SEC and Big Ten spar over the format of the College Football Playoff. While SEC leadership favours expanding the field from 12 to 16 teams, the Big Ten supports a 24-team bracket. On3.com reported that half of the SEC athletics directors, including White, support the larger format. White believes a 24-team playoff would reduce subjective selection errors by the 13-member committee, allowing potential human biases to be tested on the field rather than through opaque deliberations.

White, who has overseen record revenues of $304 million for Tennessee in the 2024-25 fiscal year, expressed concern about the health of Olympic sports and the student-athlete experience due to the frequency of transfers. He cited the Bowl Championship Series era as a model for a hybrid approach that combines human elements with clear data inputs for scheduling and selection. He argued that the current lack of standardised data points makes judging playoff participants difficult and that a more formulaic approach could inspire better schedule construction.

The Tennessee athletics director stressed that the problems facing college sports are interconnected, linking the need for objective data, standardisation, and expanded postseason access. He warned that the current structure, characterised by unbalanced NIL spending and unenforceable salary caps, creates a messy environment that frustrates administrators and harms the industry. White concluded that while the product remains strong, the sector must clean up its structure in relation to its athletes and finalise the postseason format to ensure a healthy future.