James Edward Delany (born 1948) is the former commissioner of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, a role in which he had served from 1989 until 2020. He is regarded among college athletics as having been influential in the creation of the Bowl Championship Series and its maintenance.

Early life

Delany grew up in South Orange, New Jersey and attended Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

in 1970. While a student there he played for the university's

basketball team Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, playing on two squads that reached the NCAA Final Four. His senior season he was co-captain of the team. He remained at North Carolina for law school, receiving his Juris Doctor ( J.D.) in 1973.

Professional career

From 1973 to 1974, Delany was employed as counsel to the

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Senate Judiciary Committee. From there, he was hired to the position of staff attorney for the North Carolina Justice Department. In 1975 he moved on to a position in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

, working as an enforcement representative. He remained in this position for four years before moving on to the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cham ...

as its commissioner. He remained commissioner of that conference until 1989 when he was appointed commissioner of the

. Memberships and other positions held include a member of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA), a member of the College Basketball Partnership, vice president of USA Basketball Executive Committee and a member of the board of directors of the University of North Carolina General Alumni Association. On March 4, 2019, Delaney announced he was retiring. He officially stepped down on January 1, 2020.

Accomplishments as Big Ten Conference commissioner

During his tenure as commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, Delany has overseen: * The creation of the Big Ten Network * The expansion of the conference to 11 schools with the addition of Penn State University in 1990, and its further expansion to 14 schools with the additions of the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

in 2011 and the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

in 2014. * Guaranteed participation for Big Ten schools in seven different

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

s * Development and implementation of the first college football

instant replay Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live. The video, having already been shown live, is replayed in order for viewers to see again and analyze what had j ...

system * An increase in average Big Ten football game attendance from 58,000 per game to 72,000 per game by 2005 * Negotiations with

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

to achieve a US$6 billion 11-year contract for men's basketball NCAA tournament games

Influence

Due to his position, Delany had a significant amount of influence with regard to the Bowl Championship Series. Twenty-five percent of all U.S. households are in the geographic region covered by the Big Ten Conference. This has had major implications on his influence over college football. Delany opposed the idea of a college football playoff system, arguing that a playoff would diminish the value of regular season games.

Personal life

Delany is married to Catherine Fisher Delany, with whom he has two sons, Newman McMurray and James Chancellor.

References

External links

Big Ten Conference profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delany, James 1948 births Living people Big Ten Conference commissioners North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players People from South Orange, New Jersey St. Benedict's Preparatory School alumni University of North Carolina School of Law alumni American men's basketball players