Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark channels Michael Jordan to announce Colorado return
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark isn’t afraid to be bold and brash, even beyond his stated goal to make the conference he oversees “younger, hipper, cooler.”
Well, he’s also got jokes.
In announcing Colorado’s return to the Big 12 on Thursday afternoon, the conference sent out the following press release. You might recognize the format from, well, one of the most famous announcements in sports history.
IRVING, TX (July 27, 2023) - The following statement was released today by the Big 12 Conference, through its Commissioner Brett Yormark, regarding the University of Colorado:
“They’re back.”
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The reason it looks familiar? Perhaps the greatest basketball player ever used that format when he announced his own return to the game.
The legendary Michael Jordan, a six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls, left the game for a baseball stint after his first three-peat of championships.
The announcement of Jordan’s return to the NBA came on March 18, 1995, and the release announcing the monumental news was pretty straightforward.
WASHINGTON, DC. (March 18, 1995) - The following statement was released today by Michael Jordan, through his personal attorney and business manager David B. Falk, Chairman of Falk Associates Management Enterprises, Inc. (“FAME”) located in Washington, D.C., in response to questions about his future career plans:
“I’m back.”
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Just like Jordan, the Buffaloes are ... very much “back” in the conference they once called home from 1996-2011. They’ve been in the Pac-12 ever since.
The Buffaloes will rejoin the Big 12 in 2024, which puts the conference at 13 schools following the departures of Texas and Oklahoma after this academic year. New schools to the Big 12 for 2023-24 are BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF.
BYU, by the way, used a scene from the new “Barbie” movie to celebrate the news.
The Big 12 distributed record revenue following Yormark’s first year as commissioner and has signed a new media-rights agreement.
Other notable headlines of late? The Big 12, per Yormark, could be considering extending the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in Kansas City after the event wowed Yormark in 2023.
“When I think about Kansas City, I think about that market, and that championship is one I’d like to double down on,” Yormark said at this year’s Big 12 Media Days. “We are in conversations with local officials about extending that agreement as well.”
Expansion also figures to remain a notable topic, with other Pac-12 schools, as well as UConn from the Big East, worth watching as the Big 12 potentially looks to grow beyond 13 members.
On the topic of expansion, Yormark was not especially forthcoming at the Arlington, Texas, media days, but he did give the following comment:
“We have a plan for expansion,” he said. “If the opportunity presents itself and it creates value, we’re going to pursue it.”
This story was originally published July 27, 2023 at 5:06 PM.
