Newly appointed American Athletic Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti has big dreams and aggressive goals for the conference’s future.
On Thursday, for only the second time in the history of the American Athletic Conference, a new commissioner was introduced. Tim Pernetti, a veteran in the college sports and media industry, offered his opening remarks to the assembled media, consummating a pivotal moment of change for a conference that has been a hallmark of consistency and endurance in its 11-year history to date.
Previously under the leadership of Mike Aresco, who was notably unafraid to challenge mainstream narratives, it became clear rather quickly the American Athletic Conference would maintain its unabashed boldness under its second-ever commissioner.
“The status quo I just don’t think is acceptable any longer,” Pernetti said, remarking about how much college athletics has changed since his days as an athlete and an athletic director. In his eyes, if conferences didn’t do all they could to get with the times, they were going to be left behind.
And to that end, not only was Pernetti emphatic about not falling behind, but he views the American Athletic Conference as an engine for change and leadership, a body that is both able to meet opportunities head-on and willing to swim in those uncertain waters.
From private equity, to sponsorship and naming rights, to further expansion of the College Football Playoff, Pernetti repeated multiple times a resounding refrain: “Nothing is off the table.”
“I do think there’s a window ahead of us to do some things differently,” he said. “And quite frankly, [to] resource this conference in a way where the members don’t need to leave.”
Pernetti touched on all sorts of hot-button issues facing the industry today. Rather than obfuscate, he asked questions. What do we want college athletics to look like in the future? Where does this conference fit into that bigger picture?
Through it all, Pernetti maintained one crystal-clear message. “We want this conference to be known as the most innovative conference in collegiate athletics,” he said. “Innovate is an overused word sometimes, but elevating the enterprise to do things differently, to take big swings and naturally, that’s going to require the same factors, grit, resiliency, taking some chances on some things.
“I’m convinced that the group that hired me into this job is ready to do that and I’m excited about that.”
