Brett Yormark a big fan of NIL for college athletes

Ahead of the 2023 season, NIL remains one of the biggest off-field talking points in college football. How it should be approached can be divisive but Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark is one person who remains a big proponent of it.

As Yormark explained on Big Noon Conversations, he has experience with NIL and thinks it’s a good thing for student-athletes.

“I had an experience with NIL prior to coming into this seat,” Brett Yormark said. “When I was at Roc Nation we worked with young student-athletes and we provided them with opportunities. So, I’m a big fan of NIL. I think it’s wonderful that student-athletes today can leverage their name image and likeness, can create social media platforms, be entrepreneurs.”

At the same time that Yormark is in support of NIL, he, like many other administrators, called for guardrails to be added.

“But the right guardrails need to be in place, not only to protect the system but also to protect our student-athletes,” Yormark said. “And we’re working tirelessly on it and I know Charlie Baker is.”

The former Governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker has been the NCAA President for less than one year. Much of his time so far has been spent working on NIL and trying to find a way to use political connections to help pass legislation. This offseason, the NCAA has had a huge presence on Capitol Hill trying to push for this legislation.

“And the good thing is we’re aligned, especially as an A5, and hopefully we can get something done.”

Along with these comments from Brett Yormark, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has been calling for NIL legislation, which he says would be a “common-sense standard” and that student-athletes also want to see it happen. Meanwhile, Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff recently emphasized his support for a federal NIL bill, too.

Brett Yormark on what the Big 12 is looking for in expansion candidates

Along with NIL, Brett Yormark is also focused on trying to expand the Big 12 conference. However, he doesn’t want to expand with just anyone and does have a list of traits that candidates for expansion should have.

“I don’t want to say it’s complex, but it is complex,” Yormark said.

“We have guiding principles for expansion. Leadership is critically important, cultural fit, geography, athletic performance, brand upside. There’s lots of things that go into our decision making, and when I first took the job and I have said it quite a few times since I truly want to be a national conference. I want to be in four different time zones, I want fans from coast to coast. But, again, it needs to fit within those parameters.”