The SEC may have a new commissioner, but the conference has not been looking for a new corporate headquarters. Not officially, at least. Greg Sankey, the new commissioner of the SEC introduced a week ago, says the SEC has not discussed the possibility of transplanting the SEC offices from Birmingham.
“I haven’t talked about that,” Sankey said to Al.com. “I don’t know who has, but it wasn’t me.”
The SEC recently decided to move the basketball media day from Birmingham to Charlotte next October, a strategic move to cozy up alongside ACC basketball powers and media coverage. As far as SEC basketball is concerned, outside of Kentucky, it is a great move because ACC basketball coverage tends to be more widespread and noticeable compared to the SEC. Of course, the SEC Network is also headquartered in Charlotte as well, a fact not to be glossed over. The SEC media days will continue to take place in Alabama this summer though.
The talk of the SEC potentially moving out of Birmingham stems from a column written by Kevin Scarbinsky of Al.com, which is more talking out loud in a hypothetical sense more than anything else. Thinking out loud tends to be the role of a columnist, but Sankey did his best to put that conversation to rest right away. However, the SEC has made a bit of a home in Atlanta with the basketball tournament and football conference championship game. Atlanta is a hub for college football, the SEC’s biggest asset. It would make sense for the SEC to think about relocating to a more accessible area within the conference footprint (sorry Georgia Tech), but Birmingham has been the home base for the conference for a long time now, and even in an evolving landscape of collegiate athletics there is not much that can be done in Atlanta or Charlotte that cannot continue to be done in Birmingham.
Asked if Birmingham can remain a suitable location for the SEC offices, Sankey replied, “I haven’t had any conversations about it not being.”