NCAA Board of Governors Extends Mark Emmert’s Contract

The NCAA has once again proved that it is out of touch with the rest of the NCAA. 

Despite a plethora of commissioners and athletic directors upset with the job done by NCAA president Mark Emmert in the past month, the NCAA’s Board of Governors announced Tuesday that it has extended Emmert’s contract through 2025.

The news came buried deep in a lengthy announcement issued after 9 p.m. ET in a one-liner mentioned under “other business.”

According to The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach, the vote to extend Emmert was unanimous. 

As Auerbach points out, this extension comes before the Board of Governors has even received the full gender equity review of its championships.

Mark Emmert got extended before the NCAA's Board of Governors even got the full review from the law firm hired to do a gender equity review of its championships (!)

— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) April 28, 2021

Back in early April, Auerbach wrote an article on the discontent Emmert was facing with ADs and commissioners in the NCAA after the organization’s disastrous mishandling of the women’s basketball tournament.

“I don’t think he’s grasped the magnitude of the issue,” one commissioner said in the article. “It’s been very, very disappointing, his lack of real, sincere and genuine ownership and taking of responsibility for something that is under his oversight. When there are gaps and failures, particularly when it comes to really important fundamental principles like gender equity, and things that affect the student-athlete experience, I would expect better from the president of the NCAA.”

Another commissioner added that he believed Emmert was thinking of the situation the NCAA was facing as nothing more than damage control. 

Even then, other anonymous comments suggested that if were up to the larger group involved with the NCAA, Emmert’s reign would be coming to an end. 

“If this were a faculty senate vote, I would vote no confidence,” one commissioner said. “This is like the nail in the coffin.”

Pete Thammel spoke to many commissioners and ADs about the latest announcement, tweeting that many were “befuddled” and that it might “destroy this organization” while also calling the board “delusional.”

“Mark getting extended to 2025 might destroy this organization. The board is delusional.” Spoke to a dozen ADs/Commissioners/Presidents about Mark Emmert's extension. They were "befuddled," "apoplectic" and called it "inexcusable." https://t.co/CUVCw0hch1

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 28, 2021

Of course, other people had jokes.

Mark Emmert and his job https://t.co/0FwUfvXRDB pic.twitter.com/dSC25Qfgcs

— Lucy Rohden (@lucy_rohden) April 28, 2021

Lots and lots of jokes.

Live look at Mark Emmert’s announcement party pic.twitter.com/tQe0Twfz7T

— Karen Howell (@karenehowell) April 28, 2021

"Board of Governors reaffirms commitment to updating name, image and likeness rules"

*scroll farther down*

"Also yeah we just extended Mark Emmert until 2025 k thx byeee" https://t.co/52ThIf7Bxw

— Maize n Brew (@MaizenBrew) April 28, 2021

In all seriousness, the fact that this all comes prior to the conclusion of the gender equity review and with little to no movement on the NIL front is puzzling.

The NCAA is clearly at multiple crossroads. Emmert hasn’t proven capable of providing a way forward yet. And yet the NCAA has decided to keep the keys in his hands.