[co-author: Rob Meyer*]
The newly formed College Sports Commission has named its first two executive leaders as it begins formal operations in the wake of the House v. NCAA settlement. Bryan Seeley[1] will serve as the commission’s inaugural chief executive officer and Jonathan Bramlette[2] will serve as its director of operations and deputy general counsel. Both Seeley and Bramlette most recently held senior roles working in professional baseball, with Seeley at Major League Baseball (MLB) and Bramlette with the Washington Nationals baseball team. Together, they will be responsible for building out the commission’s operations while also implementing and enforcing the settlement’s new rules on name, image, and likeness (NIL) activity, revenue sharing, and roster limits for college sports.
Bryan Seeley – CEO of the College Sports Commission
Seeley spent more than a decade at MLB, most recently serving as the executive VP, legal and operations, where he led the league’s investigations department. In this role, Seeley was tasked with overseeing sensitive matters such as the legalization of sports betting and the sign-stealing scandals. Before joining the MLB, Seeley worked as a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., for eight years.
In his new role as CEO, Seeley is responsible for establishing and overseeing the commission’s internal operations, including staffing, maintaining relationships with schools and stakeholders, developing investigative procedures, and setting fair and enforceable standards for punishment. Overall, Seeley will be tasked with bringing order to a rapidly evolving college sports landscape following approval of the House settlement.
Jonathan Bramlette – Director of Operations and Deputy General Counsel of the College Sports Commission
Seeley is joined by Bramlette, who most recently served as chief of staff and senior VP of internal operations for the Washington Nationals. Bramlette is no stranger to the role he will be stepping into at the commission, having also previously served as the deputy general counsel for the Washington Nationals. Bramlette spent most of his career working in baseball, holding various leadership positions with Ripken Baseball and the Washington Nationals Philanthropies.
Bramlette will primarily run the commission’s day-to-day operations and serve as the main legal advisor on issues related to the new rules post-House. Additionally, he will support Seeley in developing strategic plans for the commission and helping to build out its staff. Bramlette will also manage relationships with external partners and various third parties, such as Deloitte, which is reviewing NIL deals for compliance.
Key Takeaway: Focus on Investigations
One key takeaway for schools (particularly those in Division 1), from these hires is the commission’s initial focus on investigation and enforcement experience. Seeley, in particular, has spent virtually his entire career conducting investigations and doling out punishments for rule violators, first as a federal prosecutor and later as the head of MLB’s investigations department.
Since the NCAA released its interim policy on NIL more than four years ago, effectively signaling the commencement of the NIL era in college sports, the NCAA has made clear its desire to focus on, investigate, and enforce NIL-related rules violations, including by hiring a wave of former investigators and prosecutors (from the FBI and other federal agencies). Those investigators, however, have largely been sidelined due to the constant changes to the NIL regulatory landscape and various federal court rulings that impeded NCAA enforcement efforts. That the College Sports Commission has chosen an initial CEO with an investigations-focused background like Seeley speaks volumes to the organization’s priorities. Schools should expect Seeley and the commission to leverage that experience, and they should likewise expect increased scrutiny and a stark uptick in investigation and enforcement activity from what has previously been the norm in the NIL era.
[1] Bryan Seeley is charged with enforcing college sports’ new rules. What’s his plan? – The Athletic
[2] John Bramlette Named College Sports Commission Head of Operations & Deputy General Counsels Commission Head of Operations & Deputy General Counsel
*Summer Associate
