The Big East is expected to hire former MLB executive Tim Brosnan as the league's next commissioner, a move indicative of the league's embrace of a business-forward era in college sports. Brosnan is in line to replace Val Ackerman, whose retirement will be effective at the end of August after serving 13 years in the role.

In Brosnan, the Big East brings in extensive business and television experience, similar to the Big Ten's hire of former MLB executive Tony Petitti. Brosnan will take over the basketball-forward league at a compelling time, as the conference seeks ways to assert itself in a modern ecosystem led by football-driven conferences. The Big East remains a constant atop the sport, having won four of the past 10 national titles.

Brosnan brings deep fluency in modern college athletics, having previously served as Chairman/CEO of "Hoyas Rising" to study Name, Image, and Likeness. During his two decades at MLB, he rose to chief operating officer, helping start MLB Network. Under his tenure, baseball's industry-wide revenues spiked from an estimated $1.5 billion in 1991 to nearly $8.5 billion in 2015.