It’s been one year since the Big 12 introduced its new commissioner Brett Yormark.
In Yormark’s opening statements from the 2022 Big 12 Media Days, he announced that the Big 12 was “open for business.” Since then, with business on the mind, Yormark has done his best to make the conference the best that it could be.
“When I look back on this first year, I’m thrilled with our progress—-thrilled about everything that we’ve done and will continue to do—-but we’re only getting started,” Yormark said. “For those that have said, ‘My god, you guys have accomplished a lot during this year,’ I can tell you we’re just getting started. There’s a lot more to do.”
The Big 12 has seen significant growth in the last year, and the changes are only the beginning. With four new schools entering and two longtime schools leaving, the landscape of the conference is starting to take a new shape.
With how bright the future is, Yormark made it clear that although it is important to celebrate past accomplishments, the future is what is important.
“It’s not necessarily about where we’ve been. For all of us, it’s about where we are going,” Yormark said.
For the immediate future, Yormark wants to focus on welcoming the new Big 12 schools. The upcoming football season will be the first year that UCF, BYU, Houston and Cincinnati will be part of the Big 12.
With 14 total schools shooting for the Big 12 title, there’s no telling what the season may hold. When asked about what it means to have schools like UCF ranked highly in the preseason polls, Yormark expressed his excitement.
Although he was just asked about UCF, his excitement holds true for all four of the new schools.
“We’re excited to have them in the conference,” Yormark said. “It’s a big moment for us. It’s a big moment for them.”
Another big topic of conversation that came up when discussing the new Big 12 was plans for further expansion. During last year’s media days, the phrase “open for business” caused people to expect further expansion and the possibility of staying at 14 schools in the future or even moving to a 16-school conference.
Although Yormark was vague on the topic of expansion, he did express his interest.
“We have a plan for expansion, and I’m not gonna really address it today. You can ask me, but I’m not really gonna address it,” Yormark said. “We do have a plan, and hopefully, we can execute that plan.”
Time will tell what Yormark has in mind, but for now, the Big 12 will roll ahead with its 12 schools. For Yormark, 12 is good enough.
“If we stay at 12, we’re perfectly fine with that,” Yormark said. “If the opportunity presents itself where there’s something that creates value and aligns well with our goals and objectives…then we’re certainly going to pursue it.”
When it comes to expansion, most Big 12 fans hope that new schools can help the conference compete with other top conferences in the nation, like the SEC or the Big Ten. However, Yormark is content with where the Big 12 is heading.
For Yormark, the Big 12 isn’t competing against other top conferences—the Big 12 is competing with itself. So far, the Big 12 is doing just fine in its competition.
“I’m not really competing with the other Power 5 conferences,” Yorkmark said. “I want the Big 12 to be the best version of ourselves. If we can do that, we’re in a great place.”
The last important topic of conversation that came up was media rights. Yormark put his great business mindset to work and cut out a deal to extend the Big 12’s contracts with ESPN and FOX through 2031.
The extension gives the Big 12 consistent media partners and makes sure that all conference games can be aired to fans across the country. There will also be some leeway for the Big 12 to expand to other regions and even days.
“We will explore different days of the week for football games,” Yormark said. “Thursday and Friday.”
Yormark said that the heat at the start of the football season could be brutal for many of the Big 12 schools, which makes Saturday morning games rough for everyone involved. If the Big 12 moved some games to Friday night, they would be more appealing for fans to attend and safer for athletes to play in.
Saturdays can also get diluted by how many college football games happen at once. If the Big 12 can tap into the Thursday or Friday market, it could allow fans to keep up with conference games more easily.
Overall, everything that Yormark has done and is planning to do in the future is ultimately to benefit the success of the Big 12. Yormark is just getting started, and already the Big 12 looks to be moving in an exciting direction.
“As we look forward, we will continue to innovate, create and positively disrupt,” Yormark said.
