By ADAM ZAGORIA
The Big East is turning to a former Major League Baseball executive as its new Commissioner.
The league is naming ex-MLB Chief Operating Officer Tim Brosnan, 68, to the position after Dan Gavitt, Senior VP of Basketball for the NCAA, and Big Ten COO Kerry Kenny both turned it down, per sources.
The news was first reported by ESPN.
Brosnan was born in New York City and graduated from Georgetown in 1980 before getting his law degree from Fordham in 1984.
The Sports Business Journal named him to its list of the “100 Most Powerful People in Sports” 11 times, and in 2014 he rose to the shortlist of finalists to become MLB Commissioner.
During his tenure at MLB, Brosnan was involved in the creation of MLB Network and the World Baseball Classic, and brings extensive business and television experience to his new role. During his MLB tenure, revenues jumped from an estimated $1.5 billion in 1991, when he joined MLB, to nearly $8.5 billion when he departed in early 2015.
In 2014, Brosnan was one of three finalists to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner, but withdrew his candidacy and left MLB months later. Rob Manfred, who succeeded Selig, turned to Tony Petitti — who ran MLB Network at the time — to fill some of the duties Brosnan left behind. Nine years later, Petitti was hired as commissioner of the Big Ten.
Brosnan began his career with MLB as vice president of international affairs before rising to COO of MLB International. He went on to become MLB’s executive VP of business, which meant overseeing the negotiation of league’s TV deals and sponsorships.
While college sports is currently led by football-driven conferences, the Big East remains a powerhouse in basketball, having won four of the past national titles, including UConn in 2023 and 2024.
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