FRISCO, Texas — As Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark began his remarks to open the first day of the conference’s football media days on Tuesday, he recalled the first time he took the stage three years ago in nearby Arlington.
“I said I wanted to modernize this conference and I wanted to be more contemporary,” Yormark explained. “I wanted to be 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, and I wanted to double down with ESPN and FOX. We’ve done all of that and more.”
It’s been quite the run for a conference that was basically on life support the year before Yormark, 58, took over as commissioner in 2022. He inherited a league that was in transition, with the addition of new members BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF.
Upon his arrival, Yormark secured a lucrative six-year, $2.28 billion media rights deal that helped keep the league together through the 2030-31 season. He also threw a lifeline to Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, who were in danger of sinking with the Pac-12, thereby bolstering the conference to 16 teams across four time zones.
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He’s also been at the forefront of lucrative sponsorship deals that have injected new lines of revenue into the league with Microsoft and PayPal.
“I love the trajectory of this conference. I love where we’re going,” Yormark said. “It’s everything I could have wished for when I took this job three years ago. However, I can assure you, we’re just getting started. The conference today is not its best version, but we will be there sooner than later.”
He added, “We are in a period of change and growth for our industry, but as we enter into this new era, I…
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Publish date : 2025-07-09 13:29:00
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