KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The home of the Chiefs was an SEC hub for the day.

First, the UM System Board of Curators on Thursday unanimously, and expectedly, approved a final motion to give the proposed $250-million upgrades to the north concourse of Missouri football’s Memorial Stadium the official go-ahead. The approval took place during a regularly scheduled meeting of the board on the UM-Kansas City campus.

An official groundbreaking ceremony is planned for Nov. 30, the same day as Mizzou’s regular-season finale against Arkansas.

More: Where does Missouri athletics stand on its $250 million upgrades, renovation project?

Also, UM board chair Robin Wenneker said the city of Kansas City was flying an SEC flag and projecting a logo on Union Station, and that the local government was passing a resolution to name KC and “SEC city.”

Finally, and perhaps the reason for the ceremony, there was a prominent guest in attendance to watch the new house get the green light.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was in attendance at Thursday’s board meeting, arriving shortly before the motion was passed and giving his remarks shortly after the procession was over.

“I think what you're doing here strategically, to invest in your football program and your physical plan, is an important effort to continue to grow,” said Sankey, who will be in attendance for MU's game against Boston College on Saturday.

Sankey also was made available for questions to the media in attendance, where he was asked about several topics currently impacting the national college athletics landscape.

Here is what the SEC commissioner said Thursday in Kansas City:

NCAA antitrust settlement

A federal judge in California temporarily halted the proposed $2.8-billion settlement for current and former athletes in the antitrust cases against the NCAA and Power conferences. This settlement, which would cost universities millions in backpay, did not receive preliminary approval.

The proposed settlement will also allow universities to pay athletes directly for name, image and likeness deals as part, essentially, of a revenue-sharing system.

But it still has some questions to clear up before it is approved.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken expressed concern for several points in the proposed settlement, including the introduction of some enforceable rules in the NIL realm, and also the binding nature of the deal and the impact that could have on athletes far into the future.

The judge said, per USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz, that there still will likely be a settlement. Wilken is set to meet with lawyers from both sides again later this month.

Sankey has long been a proponent for a national standard on NIL.

“I don't know that I'd use the word ‘stall.’ There are questions that have to be answered,” Sankey said. “You saw questions raised, questions maybe not answered as clearly as they needed to be. So, we'll keep working.

“Those questions will need to be answered in the next few weeks, and this is subject to a court and legal process, not to my decision making, but we've done the hard work. We'll continue to work to see if it can be clarified and see what decisions might be made at the court level.”

If granted approval, Missouri athletics — like every Division-I team — will be allowed to put forward $23.1 million per year toward paying players. The amount will grow 4% every year. How it will be distributed between sports, however, remains unknown.

Missouri's NIL law and the need for uniform standards

Missouri was a frontrunner in the name, image and likeness sphere, passing House Bill 417 in the summer of 2023 to allow in-state prospects who commit to in-state universities to begin profiting off of their likeness while in high school.

Sankey has never hid the fact that he is not a fan of states stepping into this arena.

And just because he was in a room full of Mizzou board members Thursday, that didn’t mean he changed his tone.

“I have never thought, and I think we as a conference have never thought, that the right way to do this is on a state-by-state basis,” Sankey said. “And I think we've seen why. You know, a young person being recruited by 10 different universities has to figure out 10 different state laws and what they're told and what people tell them. We've put some level of authority, if you will, outside of our university leadership framework: collectives; others on the outside. There's no consumer protection, meaning the young person who is the consumer of this activity. There's no transparency. I think those are concerns in all 50 states and in every athletic program in our conference, and need to be addressed.

Added Sankey: “Our student athletes deserve to know when they line up across the line of scrimmage that the people on the other side and the other uniforms are held to the same set of standards. Our young people deserve better than this patchwork. Our young people deserve better than whispers and promises from people that they don't know. Our young people deserve better than agents who can print out on a printer business card or a contract with no oversight.

“They deserve better than that. That's not subject to a conference's control, but we have the responsibility to lead and (change) the current environment and maybe making it healthier for the young person.”

DIRECTV-Disney contract dispute

If you were looking to watch Missouri-Buffalo last Saturday on SECN+, you might have been met with a blank screen if you are a DIRECTV customer. Indeed, if you were looking to watch any college football game on any of the ESPN family of channels, you were likely met with a blackout.

DIRECTV and Disney, which owns ESPN, are currently in a contract dispute over price to air college football games, which has led to a nationwide shutdown for the satellite TV provider to air games.

Per a news release sent to the Tribune, DIRECTV’s head of state and local affairs, Hamlin Wade, sent a letter to Sankey urging the commissioner to step in and urge “flexibility in the marketplace.”

Sankey said he has been in communication with Disney and ESPN. There does not appear to be a timeframe for when the dispute may be settled.

“Each time there's a carrier’s negotiation, sure, it's a level of attention,” Sankey said. … “We've stayed in constant communication with our colleagues, ESPN and Disney. I know they're working diligently to provide the opportunity to restore the service. We'll see what happens. It's a changing time in the business. … But these things happen. We've avoided significant disruption. We did have one last year for about a week, and hopefully they can find their way to a conclusion.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Here's what SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said while at Mizzou board meeting