Big 12 makes bold move, targets college outsider Brett Yormark for new commissioner
The Big 12 is ready for new blood.
It appears the conference is hungry for new ideas, new aspirations and a completely new mindset, too. The Big 12 seems eager to start acting differently from the top down. The bolder the better.
That is how things look from the outside as the league is reportedly finalizing a deal with Brett Yormark to take over as commissioner after Bob Bowlsby settles into retirement later this summer. Who is Yormark? That is a question many who follow college sports will need to type into search engines today. He is not a sitting athletic director or someone with deep ties to the conference like Oliver Luck.
The Big 12 stunningly decided to think outside the box with this hire.
Yormark, 55, is a talent agency executive, the COO of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. He has spent years working with famous singers, teams and leagues — plus athletes. Before his current gig, he also worked for 14 years as CEO of BSE Global, where he managed the Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets. He also worked for NASCAR for six years.
K-State’s Gene Taylor, as well as other ADs throughout the conference, previously said that the league would prefer to bring in someone with an extensive background in college sports. That is exactly what Bowlsby was when he joined the league from Stanford. But Big 12 leaders reversed course this time as the search process reached its final stages.
The Big 12 will follow in the footsteps of the Pac-12, which last year hired George Kliavkoff from MGM Resorts sports and entertainment to take over as its commissioner. The Big Ten also went with Kevin Warren as its current commissioner. He was a Minnesota Vikings executive.
Will the move pay off for the Big 12?
Time will tell. But a new perspective could pay dividends for a conference that is facing unprecedented change.
The Big 12 is about to lose its two flagship members, Oklahoma and Texas, to the SEC in 2025. Before that, the conference will grow to 14 teams in 2023 with the additions of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF.
How will the Big 12 format its football schedule with 14 teams for a few years and then 12? What will the Big 12’s next TV rights deal look like? Should the conference pursue further expansion?
Perhaps most important of all: How will the Big 12 stay within shouting distance of the Big Ten and the SEC when it comes to finances after Oklahoma and Texas depart?
These are all questions that could use a fresh perspective from Yormark before the Big 12 considers all possible answers.
This story was originally published June 28, 2022 at 1:31 PM with the headline "Big 12 makes bold move, targets college outsider Brett Yormark for new commissioner."