What Tim Pernetti had to say at the American Kickoff

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — American Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti delivered a pointed message at the 2026 American Kickoff: the conference has a seat at the table in Washington, its commercial engine is producing and its position on playoff expansion is non-negotiable.

Pernetti, who has been part of President Trump’s commission to save college sports, said he has at times been the only non-autonomy commissioner in the room — and his voice is not always popular. He pushed hard on the Protect College Sports Act, called the transfer portal “the top of the mountain” for the American and made the math simple on playoff expansion: 51% of FBS schools sit outside the autonomy conferences, and if the field doubles to 24 teams, access should double for everyone.

On the commercial side, American Rise Ventures doubled partnership revenue in 11 months. Pernetti announced a three-year partnership with StubHub — the first of its kind with a college conference — and cited a 40% increase in football viewership, a record nine bowl teams and the American’s status as the only non-autonomy conference to beat teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC last season. The transfer portal remains the conference’s defining challenge: 78% of first- and second-team players transferred over the last two years, nearly 300 total.

Here is what he had to say.

Tim Pernetti at the 2026 American Kickoff (American Conference / YouTube)

On the American's core values

"The American Conference is built on three non-negotiable core values: innovation, grit and service. And they're not just words."

"Innovation. We're disruptive. We don't live in the status quo. We develop new models and we go and execute them. Our schools in this conference are bold. They have the stomach to take risk."

"Grit. I know the players love this one. We are all about earning it. We're not going to talk today about how the American's going to be, what we're going to do. We're just going to do our talking on the field. If you want to see what grit looks like, line up against us on Saturday."

"Service. We never forget who we serve. Our member institutions, communities, fans, our partners, most of all, student athletes."

On change in college sports

"College sports. What a year, man. Wow. Legal, governance, legislation, compensation, media rights, private capital, NIL, transfers, eligibility, championship access. Whoa. It's a lot. But when you think about change, it has to start with a simple question. Why?"

"A lot of you know me. I'm from Jersey. We're known to be cynical people. We take it as a compliment. I ask why every single day."

"The mission, plain and simple. College sports provides education through sport. That's what it was. That's what it's been. That's what it is. It teaches discipline, leadership, teamwork, accountability and how to handle adversity."

"I believe in it. I'm a product of it. A football scholarship in 1989. College football changed the trajectory of my entire life."

On protecting the opportunity for student athletes

"Student athletes fuel our passion. They're why we show up and pack the stadium on Saturday. They're why we live and die with every single play of every single game. We have a responsibility to surround them with a sustainable framework. And right now, that's not the thing. We need to give them a clear path to earn degrees, become leaders and win championships."

"The future of college sports has to work for every student athlete across every sport at every school."

On Washington and the Protect College Sports Act

"Over the last several months, I mean, I've walked the halls in DC more than Frank Underwood did in House of Cards. The American has a seat at the table. That's the great news. We have a national respected voice. And I'm really humbled to be part of President Trump's commission to save college sports. And at times I've been the only non-autonomy commissioner in that room."

"I know my voice is not popular sometimes. That's fine. We're not trying to win a popularity contest. We're trying to modernize and create a sustainable path forward."

"For too long, this industry has lived in this cycle of litigation and temporary fixes and uncertainty. Like, enough. It's time for structure in college sports."

"The Protect College Sports Act is now front and center. We want to thank Senators Cruz, Cantwell, Schmitt and Coons for their leadership. While this bill isn't perfect, it addresses the core challenges facing the industry, led and headlined by transfers and eligibility. It demands that NIL deals have a legitimate business purpose. I promise you this, that will put an end to these sham pay-for-play deals that are returning recruiting into this unchecked auction."

"It's progress over perfection."

On American Rise Ventures and commercial growth

"Leadership is about what you do. It's not about what you say."

"This is why we launched a wholly owned commercial division in American Rise Ventures. Rise is a platform for innovative partnerships, new enterprise, intellectual property and creating new value for our members. RISE increased our annual partnership revenue 100% in just 11 months and they're closing fast on their goal for 2026-27. We have an exceptional team of people. We're building a business for the long haul. No more short-term fixes."

"This week we announced a three-year partnership with StubHub. It's the first ever with a college conference as the official open distribution partner for American Conference Championships, connecting our events and experiences with their massive marketplace of 125 million customers."

"We're thrilled to announce the expansion of our relationship with LLH Healthcare as the exclusive benefits partner of the American and they will once again be our title partner for our football championship airing for the 12th straight year in prime time on December 5th on ABC."

"We're excited to launch the American Tailgate Tour, a one-of-a-kind fan experience to showcase the spirit of game day on campus. We kick it off when Temple hosts Penn State on September 12th."

On the Soar brand and new chief brand officer

"A year ago, we launched the American Conference's new brand to reflect who we are and where we're going. And man, did it pay off."

"One year after unveiling this brand, we saw impressions in the hundreds of millions. We created 500 million in earned media for the conference and our institutions across our own social channels. We hit 4 million engagements for the first time in history, which was up 39%. Impressions hit a record 151 million, almost a 70% increase. Our Olympic sports championships generated 28 million impressions, led by softball with a whopping 13 million."

"Today, we're going to level up the organization again by adding another seasoned executive to our team and our new chief brand officer, Eryn McVerry. Her leadership and diverse experience in the agency and pro sports industries will help elevate our team."

On Olympic sports

"Football is one of 21 sports in this conference. And it's time for me to take a moment to brag on the others. This year, we saw high-level Olympic sports performances. 10 of our 15 institutions competing in NCAA championships, five first-team all-Americans and 38 overall, one national champion, 14 baseball student athletes drafted in the Major League Baseball draft. A three-year high in graduation success rate at 92%."

"Olympic sports are why the athletics model matters. It reminds us that college sports changes lives for young people whose names will never be in a national headline, but whose lives will be better because someone created an opportunity for them."

On football's rising momentum

"Last year, our competitive depth, our national relevance, our hard-nosed brand of football, my favorite part, was on display."

"Last year, we delivered a 40% increase in football viewership. Headlined by 15 nationally televised games on Thursday and Friday nights. Six of our teams were in the conference championship hunt deep in November. And the American football championship basically became a college football playoff play-in game where Tulane secured the number 11 seed in the 12-team playoff."

"The American was at the top of the non-autonomy conferences in non-conference winning percentage, strength of schedule, and the only one in the country to beat teams from the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big 12 and the SEC. We saw a record nine teams playing bowl games. Three teams reached 11 or more wins. Three schools in Tulane, North Texas and Navy were ranked in the final AP top 25."

On why a healthy American matters to the autonomy conferences

"A healthy American conference is good for college football. Notably, the autonomy conferences. Why? They compete with us on the field. They build their rosters with our student athletes. They hire our coaches as their future leaders. This is why it's so important that we all work together in the future."

On playoff expansion and access

"The American's position on the CFP is clear. It's been clear and consistent from the start. We believe teams should have the opportunity to earn it on the field and we're supportive of an expanded playoff that provides more access for every conference."

"We're asking for two things: fairness and common sense. Here's a fact. 51% of FBS schools competing in football are outside the autonomy conferences. So in any expanded format, including the one you're reading about, that could double the field to 24 teams, access should double for everyone."

On his message to student athletes

"To our football student athletes, this week's about you. Your stories matter. Your hard work matters. Your leadership matters. The name on the front of your jersey will always be more important than the name on the back."

"When you take that field this fall, take everything you got and put it on the line. Because I know this, playing this game, it doesn't last forever. But the moments that pay off for all that hard work, they'll stay with you for the rest of your lives."

On the media

"Whether you're here or joining us virtually, I promise you this. I will always make time for you. As a former college journalism major, let's just say I got a soft spot for you. Your work matters and we greatly respect and appreciate what you do because you shine the light on the American. You're our storytellers."

On where college football stands

"College football has never been more popular, better attended, or more viewed and consumed on all platforms of media. For it to be sustainable, success needs to look like an opportunity for every student athlete, not just the top 1%."

"At the American Conference, I say this every year. We're not trying to be anybody else. We know who we are and we know we serve something bigger than ourselves. College football, this great game is an important part of the fabric of this country. That is undefeated. It brings us together. College football belongs to all of us."

Q&A

On the threat of teams leaving the conference

Question from Michael Leps, Spectrum Sports 360: What does the threat of losing programs to bigger conferences look like as you continue to produce impressive football teams?

"At the end of the day, your job as a leader in collegiate athletics is to do what's best for your institution. I know that. I completely acknowledge that. At the same time, today you are where you are and you need to invest in where you are while you're there."

"I don't spend 5 seconds of my day thinking about that. I spend 100% of my time on making sure that our institutions know that this is a place that they want to stay. And by the way, we have a lot of people at our front door interested in being part of what we're doing. So I'm not spending any time on worrying about things that I can't control. We are spending time on building an enterprise, building a commercial division, generating new resources for our institutions because at the end of the day, our job is to put them in position to be successful."

On fighting for access in an expanded playoff

Question from Berry Tramel, Tulsa World: Three group of six teams would have made the bracket in 2024. What can you do to make sure that kind of access is protected?

"When you go in that room as a commissioner, it's impossible to leave your full allegiance at the door, right? Because your job is to do what's best for your conference. Having said that, I've always viewed the CFP room as an opportunity to put college football at the center of the table and protect and defend it. Like this is about the game. This is not about who gets what."

"A year ago, if we were looking at a different format, we would have seen Tulane, Navy and North Texas in that format, which would have been really exciting."

"If you're going to double the size of the field on a guaranteed basis, why wouldn't you double the size of the field for the group of six? 51% of the institutions playing college football are there."

"There are a lot of things to consider. Number one is the calendar. It's easy to say, 'We're going to 24.' Where the hell are you playing all these games, right? You have to think about the calendar. Have to think about the schedule. You have to think about the access. We have to think about championship games. You have to think about the economics of those championship games."

"I always try to be an objective broker in the room, and you got to get your knuckles bloody once in a while, but it's important that we all land it in the right place."

On the transfer portal and NIL guardrails

Question from Leo Hagerty, Amped Cup Sports Draft Nation: How do you keep other genies from jumping out of the bottle?

"The industry hasn't been served well by the reactive nature of a lot of these decisions. And we are where we are. And there's no more putting the toothpaste back in the tube. But this bill, the Protect College Sports Act, I think gives the industry a chance to put the right guard rails around the key things."

"The top of the mountain for us on the issues in the American is the transfer portal. 78% of our first- and second-team players in football transferred. Almost 300 over the last two years. So for us, our coaches do an incredible job developing talent. I want to keep them in the league longer."

"Anything that promotes more stability, still gives student athletes the opportunity to transfer unrestricted, but then beyond that has some guard rails, I think is important because you know what happens? You lose on development and you don't graduate the more you move around. And that's really our job is to make sure we deliver the education."

On being the disruptive voice in the room

Question from Dan Tortora, wakeup calldt.com: What are the inroads you're making in those rooms to be disruptive and bring common sense?

"A lot of things I have said are not popular, and I'm okay with that. The number one thing you want to do in those rooms is you want to convince people to talk about change by talking about change and actually changing it, right? They're two different things. But if everything we've done for so long has worked so well, why are we in this situation?"

"Despite the rumors that are out there about the college football playoff meetings and people must be getting after each other — you got a lot of people in there trying, they're working together, trying to make the right decisions. But if you think it's easy, that's another thing entirely."

"I want to give a little credit to Army and Navy. Army and Navy being in our conference has been great on a lot of fronts, but their engagement enabled me to create engagement in Washington DC which got me in the room as part of these committees to work on college sports. Their national profile and the relationships that they've brought to the table has really enabled the American to get to the table and now we're in the room."

On protecting the Army-Navy game

Question from Joe Iacono, goblackknights.com: What are you doing to make sure the Army-Navy game stays protected as the playoff expands?

"It's not a rumor. I can tell you that much. It's a fact."

"Doesn't matter who owns the rights to what game. I will protect and defend the Army Navy game as commissioner of this league. It's that important to the conference. They're important as members."

"We've been talking about expansion. We met in Denver. We had great conversations about all the scenarios. We don't really know what media rights might look like for an expanded playoff. We don't know how the calendar is going to work, but at the top of the pile for every commissioner in that room is we have to make sure we properly situate the Army Navy game."

"That protected window is really important. And it's part of the calculus in that entire room of commissioners as we think about the future of the playoff. We've done a lot of work to get it there, but we're very comfortable that it's going to be an important part of the discussion and that we'll land it in the right place."

On conference expansion criteria

Question from Brad Walker, NGS Sports: What metrics are most important when evaluating potential new members?

"I have a really unique perspective. I sat in an athletic director chair at my alma mater and I engineered their move to the Big Ten. And as proud as I am of that, I'm also aware of the disruption that it created. And that sticks in the back of my mind."

"For me, and I think this is probably a curse of being a former media executive, you start and stop with, can you create short-term incremental value? And when you're at the table in your next media rights negotiation, are you creating incremental value?"

"The reality of expansion is this. Years ago, it used to be you had to deliver incremental value as a key to get in the door for everyone in the league. You had to pay for yourself and you had to deliver more for everyone else. Now it's got to be almost like pro sports where schools are almost paying expansion fees to get into these conferences."

"You evaluate the economics, you evaluate geography, you evaluate fit, you evaluate are they serious about investment not only in athletics but as a university and what do they aspire to be? Like there's a lot of stuff to throw in the blender. And I can promise you this, no matter who you talk to and what you throw in the blender, there's no perfect smoothie out there. You got to make compromises along the way."