Chuck Neinas obit

Visionary College Athletics Administrator Chuck Neinas Passes Away

Neinas held leadership roles with the Big Eight Conference, Big 12 Conference, College Football Association (CFA), and the NCAA.

 

He was not on the list.

IRVING, TEXAS (Dec. 16, 2025) – Chuck Neinas, the visionary college athletics administrator and an emeritus member of the National Football Foundation Board of Trustees who held leadership roles with the Big Eight Conference, Big 12 Conference, College Football Association (CFA), and the NCAA, passed away Dec. 16. He was 93.

"College athletics has lost one of the true giants of our profession, and I have lost a dear friend and mentor," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "Chuck Neinas was a visionary in every sense of the word. From his time at the NCAA to his leadership of the Big Eight and the CFA, he didn't just manage change, he drove it. The modern landscape of college football, particularly the way we consume it on television today, can be traced directly back to his foresight and determination to give schools control over their TV rights.

"On a personal level, I had the distinct privilege of working under Chuck during our time at the Big Eight Conference. He taught me that while the spectacle of the game is important, the integrity and welfare of the student-athlete must always come first. The National Football Foundation and the entire college football community are better because Chuck Neinas was a part of it, and we are deeply saddened by his passing."

Chuck Neinas graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1957, served a hitch in the U.S. Navy, then went into athletics professionally. He started behind a microphone, not a desk, doing play-by-play of the Wisconsin Badgers football and basketball games. His work in college sports broadcasting helped him get to know the workings of the NCAA. The NCAA also got to know Chuck Neinas, and in 1961, he went to work for the NCAA as assistant executive director, serving in the role until 1971. Throughout the decade, he was supervisor of NCAA Championships, with direct responsibility over the College World Series and the NCAA Basketball Final Four Championship. Neinas was also the NCAA Congressional liaison, and he was responsible for financial and business affairs in his role as secretary to the NCAA Council and Executive Committee.

Neinas was named commissioner of the Big Eight Conference in 1971, where he served until 1980. While in this role, Neinas paved the way for modern commissioners with his focus on improving the communication between coaches, directors, faculty, and presidents. The success he had led to him being selected to become a member of the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors, where he served for eight years.

From 1976 to 1980, Neinas was chairman of the Olympic Basketball Committee and he served on the initial United States Olympic Development Committee. He achieved a career milestone in 1978 as the chair of the NCAA Olympic and International Relations Committee. The committee recommended that the NCAA withdraw from the USOC, which led to a reorganization of the USOC and adoption of the Amateur Sports Act of 1978.

Neinas went on to serve as executive director of the CFA from 1980 to 1997, where he would help change the landscape of college athletics forever by challenging the NCAA control of college football television rights. His efforts resulted in the landmark Supreme Court decision in 1984, which opened the marketplace for college football telecasts by giving the conference and top schools control. Prior to the ruling, NCAA rules limited TV appearances by schools to five games over two seasons on two networks. With Oklahoma and Georgia as the lead plaintiffs, the CFA successfully argued the restrictions violated federal antitrust laws. Subsequently, schools and conferences were free to negotiate their own deals, and from 1984 to 1995, Neinas negotiated countless television contracts and administered television plans for members of the CFA. These contracts included deals with ESPN, CBS, NBC and ABC, leading to the conference networks and billions in television contracts, which wouldn't exist without the effort led by Neinas.

Neinas also fostered efforts for chief executive officers, athletic directors, faculty and football coaches to work together on important issues rather than as separate entities, promoting CFA-sponsored NCAA legislation. The newfound approach to handling important issues as a team led to the development of the continuing eligibility rule requiring progress toward a degree, elimination of alumni and boosters from the recruiting process, improvement of academic standards and the establishment of more reasonable and enforceable NCAA rules, including a recruiting calendar.

In 1997, the CFA disbanded, and Neinas founded Neinas Sports Services, a high-level consulting firm in Boulder, Colorado, which remained active for nearly 20 years. The company specialized in personnel placement, organizational guidance, and management consulting within intercollegiate athletics. Serving as a consultant to numerous universities and conferences, his efforts resulted in the placement of multiple athletics directors and head football and basketball coaches.

During his stewardship of the consulting firm, he was chairman of the board and acting chief executive officer of Ascent Entertainment Group from 1999 to 2000. He helped negotiate the sale of the Ascent Entertainment Group to Liberty Media Group for $750 million in 2000. Ascent owned the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and the Pepsi Center. From 2011 to 2012, Neinas became interim commissioner of the Big 12 Conference. During his tenure, he solidified the conference, adding two new members (TCU and West Virginia) and initiating negotiations that resulted in a $2.6 billion television contract.

Neinas held many roles throughout his tenure in college athletics, including serving on the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors, NACDA Executive Committee, the NFF Honors Court and as a liaison to the NCAA for the American Football Coaches Association. He joined in the NFF Board of Trustees in 2006, and he served in an emeritus capacity from 2016 until his passing.

In 1990, Sports Illustrated ranked him as the 75th-most powerful person in sports. Thirteen years later, SI named him the 10th-most powerful in college football. He received multiple awards, including the National Football Foundation Outstanding Contribution to College Football Award, the American Football Coaches (AFCA) Amos Alonzo Stagg Award, the AFCA Tuss McLaughry Award, and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics James J. Corbett Memorial Award.