As SEC commissioner from 2002-15, Mike Slive presided over the league's unprecedented streak of seven consecutive national championships in football, its expansion from 12 members to 14 and its launch of the SEC Network. He also was a driving force behind the creation of the College Football Playoff.
Perhaps less well-known is the considerable contribution that Slive, who died Wednesday at age 77, made to the Atlanta sports scene.
He kept the SEC Championship football game here, committing to a 10-year deal with Mercedes-Benz Stadium despite other cities’ interest in luring the event away on at least an occasional basis. He supported the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl’s successful bid to become a rotating host of a national semifinal game. He was chairman of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee when it awarded the 2013 Final Four – the event’s prestigious 75th anniversary edition – to Atlanta.
“Mike Slive loved Atlanta,” said William Pate, president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. “He always kept Atlanta top of mind. He was a great friend to Atlanta, and (his death) is a very personal and heartbreaking loss for us.
“He gave us great opportunities, and he made the SEC what it has become.”
The SEC Championship game’s unusually long contract with Mercedes-Benz Stadium was announced several months after Slive’s retirement as commissioner, but the negotiations were conducted and essentially completed while he was in office. He was willing to do a 10-year deal (through 2026) with a stadium that was in the early stages of construction because he felt strongly Atlanta would remain the right place for the league’s signature event.
“Mike was always supportive of what we were doing in Atlanta,” said Gary Stokan, president and CEO of Peach Bowl Inc. and former president of the Atlanta Sports Council. “He knew Atlanta was very important for the SEC, and I think he was right.”
Slive also was on the board of the National Football Foundation when it voted to move the College Football Hall of Fame here from South Bend, Ind.
“He was a tough negotiator, a good businessman, very strategic,” Stokan said. “But I think most people will tell you he was most successful as someone who brought the human element and friendship into the sports business world. That’s what you remember most.”
A memorial service for Slive will be held Friday in Birmingham, Ala.
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