Brett Yormark shares honest evaluation of Big 12, trajectory under his leadership

On Aug. 1, 2022, Brett Yormark became the Big 12 commissioner. At Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday, Yormark reflected on the conference’s progress over the past three years.

“I’m thrilled with where the Big 12 is right now,” Yormark said. “Three years ago, I didn’t walk on the stage. I sat on the stage, which was a little uncomfortable for me, and I said I wanted to modernize this conference.

“I wanted to be more contemporary. I wanted to get on the consciousness of future student athletes. I wanted to create a foundation that would enable us to succeed. I wanted to be a national conference. I wanted to double down with ESPN and Fox. We’ve done all of that and more.”

Yormark didn’t hesitate to begin making sweeping changes after taking control of the conference. In October of 2022, the Big 12 inked a six-year, $2.28 billion contract extension with ESPN and FOX. The move provided Big 12 schools with a substantial increase in media revenue per year.

Yormark didn’t stop there. While the Big 12 lost Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, it’s added BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah during Yormark’s tenure.

Additionally, Yormark sought after innovative ways to separate the Big 12 from its competition. One way Yormark achieved this was by creating a conference-wide football pro day, the first of its kind in college athletics.

Yormark also led the way in the Big 12 partnering with the WWE. Simply put, Yormark has been anything but sluggish in his attempts to improve the conference. Moreover, Yormark sees an even brighter future for the conference.

“I love the trajectory of this conference,” Yormark said. “I love where we’re going. Our schools are making incredible investments in infrastructure, performance and student athletes. It’s everything I could have wished for when I took this job three years ago.

“But I will tell you, we’re just getting started. This conference is today not the best version of itself, but we will be sooner than later. And as I said earlier, we have a unified board, an incredible group of ADs, we share in the vision for this conference, and I’m excited about our future.”

Evidently, the Big 12’s board of directors agree with Brett Yormark’s vision of the future. In May, the board voted to give Yormark a three-year contract extension. Yormark’s extension will now run through 2030. He originally agreed in 2022 to a five-year deal through 2027.