Big Ten will hire former MLB executive Tony Petitti as commissioner

Tony Dejak/AP

The Big Ten is hiring former Major League Baseball executive Tony Petitti to be its next commissioner, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because a deal was still being finalized. An announcement is expected from the conference by the end of the week.

Petitti replaces Kevin Warren, who is leaving to become president of the Bears. Warren’s last day on the job was scheduled to be April 17.

Petitti continues a trend of recent hires to lead the top conferences coming from outside college sports — like Warren, who worked for the Minnesota Vikings before taking over for Jim Delany and becoming the Big Ten’s first Black commissioner in 2019.

The Pac-12 subsequently hired George Kliavkoff, who was an executive for MGM Resorts International. Last year, the Big 12 hired Brett Yormark as commissioner after he had previously run Barclays Center in New York and worked for the Roc Nation talent agency.

Petitti has extensive background in television, working for ABC, CBS and MLB Network. He was also chief operating officer for MLB, taking over the position Rob Manfred held before he became commissioner.