re: What benefits did SEC get by going to 9 conference games?

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Sankey overplayed his hand in a weakening SEC.

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Well, it certainly ain't weakening in terms of viewership of regular season conference games:

SEC kicking B10 arse in Viewership

Article from WSJ is via a paid subscription so not sure you can access. If not, here are a few salient quotes:

Two years ago, SEC and Big Ten football games drew similar television audiences. This season, however, the second campaign since each league expanded, the SEC’s average audience has surged by 49% while the Big Ten’s has dropped 11%, according to Nielsen. The average regular-season SEC football game now draws 2 million more viewers than the average Big Ten game.

Currently, the Big Ten has the more lucrative TV package, which has helped fund its on-field success in the player-pay era. The Big Ten distributed roughly $62 million to each school as of 2023-24, compared with about $52 million in the SEC.

Great negotiating there Sankey!

...and then this just for belly laughs...

The Big Ten rejected the notion that TV ratings were a sign that the SEC has gained an edge.

“To simply measure the success of our conference’s expansion by television ratings is to ignore academics and research as the primary purpose of institutions of higher learning,” a Big Ten spokesperson said.