ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany insists he is all for empowering college athletes and improving conditions for them.

He’s just as adamant that forming a union is not the way to go, and he thinks the public agrees with him on that.

Delany says “70 percent of the people” are against athletes unionizing and are against pay for play. He says the public does not want to see college programs operating like minor league franchises.

Delany spoke Wednesday after wrapping up two days of meetings with Big Ten athletic and academic administrators.

The discussions focused on the conference’s expansion east with Maryland and Rutgers along with the reform and restructuring of the college landscape as a potential game-changing decision on unionizing looms in the background.