Yormark focused on creating momentum for Big 12 media rights deal

Brett Yormark understands that everything he does moving forward as the commissioner of the Big 12 Conference must best position the league for its upcoming multimedia rights negotiations.

Those negotiations are set to begin in three years, which gives Yormark some time to create more momentum for the league moving forward.

Yormark has had a working relationship with both ESPN and Fox in his previous stops in his career and is looking forward to having conversations that will enhance and amplify the value of the Big 12.

“I’m bullish on the conference and what we look like today and what we look like when we enter those negotiations could be very different,” he said.

The current composition of the league is ten teams with West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State, TCU and Oklahoma State. Both Texas and Oklahoma are currently set to leave for the SEC in 2025, while the Big 12 will welcome BYU, Central Florida, Houston and Cincinnati for the 2023 campaign as full members.

That could mean a 14-team league for two seasons unless Oklahoma and Texas get out of their contract with the league before that point.

“Any situation like this I always look for a win-win scenario. But with that being said it’s important that whatever happens is in the best interest of this conference,” Yormark said.

The newly appointed leader of the Big 12 doesn’t officially begin in his role until Aug. 1, but has already been thrown into the fire with the ever-shifting landscape of conference realignment with UCLA and USC bolting the Pac-12 for the Big 10 beginning in 2024.

That could lead to further dominoes which could potentially impact the Big 12, but nothing is imminent. Yormark admitted that he has been involved with stakeholders both inside and outside of the league regarding the path forward and there are clearly opportunities to grow the league’s brand.

However, any possible move must be additive as opposed to dilutive if that time comes.

“One thing is for sure there is no doubt the Big 12 is open for business. We will leave no stone unturned to drive value for the conference,” Yormark said. “We will be bold and humble, aggressive and thoughtful and innovative and creative all in an effort to position the conference in a way that not only grows the Big 12 brand but also makes it a bit more contemporary.”

Yormark said that it’s fair to say that he has received a lot of phone calls and interest in the league due to people understanding the direction of the Big 12.

“And we’re exploring those levels of interest. Nothing is imminent but we’re working hard to ensure we’re positioning the Big 12 in the best possible way,” he said.

Yormark remains bullish on what the Big 12 could be in the future and while there aren’t currently any specifics on how the league could position itself differently the goal is to build the brand and business. He plans on spending 60-90 days touring each of the Big 12 campuses to gain a better understanding of those teams and how to best approach things moving forward.

“Everything we do from this point forward will be toward that negotiation period. How we build our brand, how we build our business. Conference realignment all that will play a role in whatever dialogue we have,” Yormark said.

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