SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey on Championship Game, Expansion and Playoff

ATLANTA — The SEC Championship Game will have a new home, but it's not going far.

The SEC and the NFL's Atlanta Falcons announced that the annual event—which has been held at the Georgia Dome every year since 1994 and has sold out in 20 of its 21 years in Atlanta (including 19 straight)—will move one block south and be held in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium starting in December 2017.

The 10-year deal includes two five-year extensions that could keep the event in Atlanta for two decades.

"Atlanta has served as an outstanding host for the SEC Football Championship Game for more than two decades and has been the perfect venue for one of the premier events in college sports," said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. "We look forward to continuing a very positive relationship with Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the Georgia World Congress Center as the home of our football championship."

Sankey, in his first year as the new commissioner of the SEC, discussed the long-term deal to keep the game in Atlanta, as well as other hot-button topics in the college football world including his new role, conference expansion, playoff expansion and his notorious workout regimen.

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Bleacher Report: Were there any serious discussions with other cities to hold the game in other cities or rotate it to several cities?

Greg Sankey: We were focused here. We were focused here. We've had a great ride and relationships with the city of Atlanta. The championship has established itself in the city of Atlanta, and we were focused on accessing a world-class venue that's being created in a city that's played a great host to our championship game.

There's a tradition here, like I said earlier. There are a number of traditions in the SEC. Understanding that Atlanta is one of those traditions and keeping the game in Atlanta is important.

B/R: Are the two five-year extension options on top of the 10-year deal new to this process, has that been common with the deals to keep the game in the Georgia Dome over the last 20 years?

GS: That's consistent, having those options built into the deal. I don't remember the exact time frame in the past, but we have had options in the past. We feel that it's the appropriate way to configure this kind of deal, so it's pretty standard for us to work those kind of variables into this.

B/R: The new Mercedes-Benz Stadium will have a retractable roof. On the list of things you've had to discuss regarding this deal, has the topic of playing an open-air SEC Championship Game if the weather cooperates come up?

GS: We have talked about it a little bit internally, but on the list of issues that we've discussed, seating manifest, seats, suites and all of those changes are coming down the railroad tracks pretty quickly. You can make the decision on the roof quickly. Coaches probably would like to have controlled, consistent conditions. 

B/R: Three months into your new role as SEC commissioner, what's life been like, what surprises have come up and what immediate challenges are you facing?

GS: It's been great. It doesn't stop. The pace is pretty incredible. The energy around this conference provides fuel to the personal fire. We've done some good things initially, got through media days, honored former Commissioner Mike Slive, established this agreement, had some meetings with our membership with more to come.

The first weekend of football was great, going 12-1 and having a perfect Saturday. I joked earlier, we did lose one game on Saturday, but it was to Mother Nature. It's been fun, though. 

B/R: What's the next big thing you're tackling? Any talk of conference expansion?

GS: Only when the media asks.

The two things you're supposed to ask me are conference expansion and playoff expansion. 

So...on playoff expansion, we had a great year in Year 1. Four worked very well. I think we have to be very careful on expanding just to add more given the toll that it takes and the impact on the season. I mean, look at the weekend. We just had the first weekend of college football, and the question of "what does this mean for the playoff" is driving the conversation. I really do think that's meaningful.

We saw that last year, week-by-week, even before the College Football Playoff rankings were ever released, you have all this conversation around the great game of college football. I think that's great.

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B/R: You spoke often in Destin (at SEC spring meetings) that you don't deal in "hypotheticals." But Notre Dame being an independent, if it makes a run and there are two power conferences left out; or, if two teams from the same conference get in and two are left out, will that accelerate change and force conferences to change their stance on expansion?

GS: The reality is, we had one year. There were five conferences and four spots. It's something on a long list of issues, but I'm sure people will be attentive to. If a conference accesses two of those slots or if there's an independent that's one of those four, that will be a factor in the conversation.

That doesn't mean it's a tipping point, it just means that it's a factor in the process of evaluating what's best for the sport.

B/R: Finally, you have a new job and are a noted workout aficionado—so much so that your Twitter profile used to have you flipping a tire instead of the more traditional headshot. How has being commissioner changed your day-to-day workout regimen?

GS: August hurt. August hurt a lot. I was on the road a lot in August getting ready for the year. 

Even this morning, we were going to leave at 6 a.m., and I thought to myself "I could catch a 5:15 workout if I go to the downtown gym, we can leave at 6:20." So I finished, didn't even wait for the cool down. I tried to stop sweating and I couldn't stop sweating even when I put on my suit, and we just came here.

I try to prioritize that. I've been running on my own a lot more to try to make sure I get something in.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.