Charlie Baker

“The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges, but I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many ...

Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2 “The NCAA receives zero dollars from the CFP, but it remains liable for the legal and health costs of FBS football,” Perko said. The top-tier of Division I football (known as FBS) operates mostly outside the NCAA. [Emmert announced he would step down](https://apnews.com/article/sports-las-vegas-penn-state-nittany-lions-a7f7148dca67600fa2df09bd81e9e7dd) earlier this year after 12 years of leading the NCAA through a tumultuous time. NCAA revenues have surpassed $1 billion in recent years, most of that coming from its media rights deal for the men's Division I basketball tournament. There are also billions flowing into the major conferences that play big-time college football. More than 30 states have passed their own NIL laws and it has resulted in a patchwork of regulations and hard-to-enforce rules. “I’m going to wait until I actually have the job and I’ve had some conversations before I get into the details of several of these questions,” Baker said. Before that the job had typically been held by former college sports administrators. The NCAA emphasized Baker's high approval ratings as the Republican governor of a blue state in announcing the hire. He also had two sons who played college football and his wife, Lauren, was a gymnast in college. “As a public servant, he showed a talent for working across party lines, convening Bay Staters of all types to do big things together.”

Charlie Baker will start as president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association on March 1.

As a former student-athlete himself, husband to a former college gymnast, and father to two former college football players, Governor Baker is deeply committed to our student-athletes and enhancing their collegiate experience. Linda Livingstone, Baylor University president and chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, who led the presidential search committee, said in a statement that Baker “has shown a remarkable ability to bridge divides and build bipartisan consensus, taking on complex challenges in innovative and effective ways. “The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges, but I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many students is more than worth the challenge.

Massachusetts Gov. · Baker is the first NCAA president with no professional credentials in higher education or college sports. · Baker succeeds Mark Emmert, who ...

"The biggest quality he brings is his political acumen," said Tom McMillen, president of the LEAD1 Association, which represents 131 athletic directors in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Baker will start in the position in March, two months after his second term as governor ends on Jan. The organization was embroiled in a Supreme Court case last year [over student-athlete compensation](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/21/supreme-court-rules-for-college-athletes-in-compensation-dispute-with-ncaa.html).

Baker, whose professional background is in government and health care rather than sports, will take over at a time when many of the N.C.A.A.'s challenges ...

to the Big Ten](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/14/sports/ncaafootball/ucla-big-ten.html) from the Pac-12, which will double U.C.L.A.’s television contract to $60 million to $70 million per year. ( [The move was highly contentious](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/sports/ncaafootball/ucla-big-ten-uc-regents.html) within the U.C.L.A. But while Emmert had polished his political skills in the world of academia, he was also immersed in college sports, having been the chancellor at Louisiana State, where he hired an up-and-coming football coach, Nick Saban, and the president of the University of Washington. [N.C.A.A.’s transfer portal](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/sports/ncaabasketball/ncaa-transfer-portal-rule.html) to players cashing in on their fame. He came to the job from a meager position: an assistant sports information director for the Big Ten. [a time when its power in Washington](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/sports/ncaabasketball/ncaa-college-sports-laws.html) and U.S. Baker denied that was the case, and Maura Healey, a Democrat, handily defeated Diehl in November. president needs to be able to balance competing priorities, inspire a shared vision and create a broad sense of trust,” said the former Duke and N.B.A. He added: “Charlie Baker has demonstrated the type of results-oriented, bipartisan approach that we will need to bolster the well-being of student-athletes, realize the opportunities and overcome the challenges facing the N.C.A.A.” The boycott is part of a broader movement to increase access to these institutions. He added that “the enormous transition associated with policy and government and rules and regulations” made him believe he could handle the role. He played basketball at Harvard, including eight games for the varsity team in the 1977-78 season.

Baker, a Republican, has been governor of Massachusetts since 2015. He announced a year ago he would not seek re-election. His second term ends in January and ...

Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2 “The NCAA receives zero dollars from the CFP, but it remains liable for the legal and health costs of FBS football,” Perko said. The top-tier of Division I football (known as FBS) operates mostly outside the NCAA. [Emmert announced he would step down](https://apnews.com/article/sports-las-vegas-penn-state-nittany-lions-a7f7148dca67600fa2df09bd81e9e7dd) earlier this year after 12 years of leading the NCAA through a tumultuous time. NCAA revenues have surpassed $1 billion in recent years, most of that coming from its media rights deal for the men's Division I basketball tournament. There are also billions flowing into the major conferences that play big-time college football. More than 30 states have passed their own NIL laws and it has resulted in a patchwork of regulations and hard-to-enforce rules. “I’m going to wait until I actually have the job and I’ve had some conversations before I get into the details of several of these questions,” Baker said. Before that the job had typically been held by former college sports administrators. The NCAA emphasized Baker's high approval ratings as the Republican governor of a blue state in announcing the hire. He also had two sons who played college football and his wife, Lauren, was a gymnast in college. “As a public servant, he showed a talent for working across party lines, convening Bay Staters of all types to do big things together.”

News of Baker's future broke as the governor spoke at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new state-designated community behavioral health center in East Boston.

These skills and perspective will be invaluable as we work with policymakers to build a sustainable model for the future of college athletics.” Baker on his new position as President of the NCAA,” Healey said in a statement Thursday morning. Baker has shown a remarkable ability to bridge divides and build bipartisan consensus, taking on complex challenges in innovative and effective ways,” Livingstone said in a statement. “The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges, but I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many students is more than worth the challenge,” he said in the statement. Baker has faced questions about his next steps ever since he announced that he would not seek reelection, a move that opened the door for a multi-way Democratic primary for governor. The organization confirmed the announcement in a press release shortly after, where sports officials praised Baker’s “decades of experience spearheading transformations at high-profile institutions in the private and public sectors.”