Brett Yormark waxes poetic regarding Big 12's 'appropriate' venture into Mexico City

Brett Yormark believes the Big 12 is entering a market full of untapped potential in Mexico City.

The conference commissioner made sure to let the college athletics world know at Big 12 Media Days, as he was more than giddy when speaking on the situation. The Big 12 is holding some college basketball games in Mexico City next season, and are hoping to hold a college football game there as soon as 2026.

Speaking with the ESPN crew, Yormark waxed poetic about the strategy, calling it “appropriate” for many reasons, including the conferences geographical footprint.

“I wanted to have an international strategy,” started Yormark. “We were approached by different parts of the world, ‘Hey, come an do a conference game,’ and (it is) challenging to do that in many respects, and we didn’t want to do things on a one-off basis, so I wanted to invest in a market that was obviously very appropriate for us, given our geographic footprint, and Mexico is our neighbor. So it makes a ton of sense for us to activate that marketplace.

“There’s 22 million consumers in Mexico City alone. They love American football. They love basketball. If a small portion becomes Big 12 fans, we won.”

Alas, it makes some perfect business sense for Brett Yormark and the Big 12 to look at Mexico City, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see other conference get international with it in the near future.

Brett Yormark ‘thinks differently’ than other conference commissioners, benefits Big 12

Continuing, Brett Yormark has been the Big 12 Commissioner for about a year. Despite that, he’s already become one of the most prominent figures in college athletics.

As Ivan Maisel explained during an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning earlier this offseason, Yormark has found success because he’s different.

“Well, Brett Yormark thinks differently than the traditional college administrator,” Maisel said. “And that’s been a great benefit to the Big 12. I mean, he got a TV deal done, he got them, promoted their sponsoring of playground hoops in New York. I mean, he’s trying to get their name out there in a way that is very non-traditional.”

One of the major accomplishments that Brett Yormark managed was to land a new media deal. It’s worth $2.28 billion. Notably, he got that deal done much quicker than the Pac-12 was able to negotiate its new media deal, as the conferences look to show stability. The Pac-12 is still looking for its next media partner or partners.

Recently, Yormark even announced the Big 12 would distribute $440 million to 10 conference members for the 2022-2023 season.

Another common occurrence has been rumors that Yormark wants to expand the Big 12 again. The most recent rumors include schools like Colorado, UConn, and Gonzaga.

“And inviting a Gonzaga, luring Colorado, talking to UConn. Why UConn would do it — I live in Connecticut — UConn left the Big East once and it didn’t go very well. Why they would do that again is mystifying.”

On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.