Brett Yormark has been commissioner of the Big 12 since August of 2022 but even in that period of time the league has undergone some massive changes.
The Big 12 welcomed Houston, UCF, Cincinnati and BYU as members the following July and then added Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State in the fall of 2024 to bring the total teams to 16.
And while the composition was changing, Yormark was also able to land a new six-year media rights deal with partners ESPN and FOX worth over $2.28 billion that begins in 2025. That stability was a key factor when being able to eventually increase the membership further.
It was a series of moves that solidified the conference as a whole.
A stark contrast from where Yormark was when he took over the Big 12 with many questioning the future of the league and where exactly it fit in the pecking order.
“I’d say it’s been a great three years of progress,” Yormark told SportsCenter. “I inherited a conference at the time that needed to be stabilized. We needed clarity on our future and over the course of the last two and half plus years I think we’ve been able to gain a lot of clarity.”
Yormark believes that not only did the Big 12 increase its composition but the national profile and how people think about the league.
And in the end, Yormark believes that the expansion of the league has been a positive that has made the league better overall and stronger in all sports in the conference.
"I’m incredibly bullish on the future of the Big 12 as we head into this new chapter in our industry we will be at the forefront of innovation and we’re going to continue to positively disrupt and compete for championships at the highest level," he said.
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