The Big Ten is hiring former MLB and CBS television executive Tony Petitti as the new league commissioner, as first reported by ESPN.

Pettitti served as the COO of Major League Baseball, starting in 2015. Before his role with MLB, he worked for ABC Sports, CBS and MLB Network. ESPN reports that his work with college sports includes creating the BCS while he worked for ABC and contributions to CBS' programming of the NCAA Tournament.

The hiring of Petitti continues a trend among Power 5 conferences to hire commissioners with limited -- to zero -- working experience in college athletics, instead focusing more on individuals with high-ranking experience in other industries. The Big 12 hired Brett Yormark and the Pac 12 hired George Kliavkoff while previous Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren worked with the Minnesota Vikings before joining the Big Ten.

Warren departs the Big Ten to become the president of the Chicago Bears and is expected to finish his tenure this month before starting in Chicago on April 17. Warren's tenure as Big Ten commissioner was a turbulent one. He took over shortly before COVID-19 took over the world in March 2020 and later made the controversial decision to postpone the 2020 Big Ten football season, a decision that was later reversed.

However, Warren also oversaw the additions of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, which begins in 2024 and placed a large focus on the mental health of Big Ten student-athletes during his tenure. Most significantly, Warren helped the Big Ten secure a massive media rights deal with FOX, CBS and NBC that is starting in July. The contract is worth $7 billion dollars, and by the end of the agreement in 2029-30, the 16 Big Ten members are expected to bring in between $80 million to $100 million dollars annually.

Petitti's hiring is expected to became official on Wednesday afternoon. He enters a college sports landscape in transition with the implementation of name, image and likeness (NIL), the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams in the 2024-25 season, the transfer portal and the numerous lawsuits currently facing the NCAA and member conferences/institutions.

Editor’s note: the headline of the story has been updated to note of the official hiring of Petitti.