The Big 12 has named Brett Yormark as its next commissioner, the conference announced Wednesday. Yormark, who received a five-year initial contract, will start on August 1.
Yormark, 55, is the chief operating officer for Roc Nation, an entertainment agency founded by American hip-hop artist Jay-Z. Yormark also had been an executive with the Brooklyn Nets and NASCAR. Sources told The Athletic that Yormark wowed during the process with big ideas, energy and a rolodex unlike anyone else interviewed.
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"Brett is one of the most skilled and knowledgeable executives in sports and entertainment," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. "His decades of operational experience, relentless work ethic and strong industry relationships will be of enormous value to the Big 12, its schools and fans."
Last April, the Big 12 announced that Bob Bowlsby would step away from his role as commissioner later in 2022. Bowlsby, who has led the league since 2012, will transition into a new interim role with the conference once Yormark takes over.
The Big 12 is bringing in UCF, BYU, Houston and Cincinnati as new members in 2023.
(Photo: Jay Biggerstaff / USA Today)
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Why the Big 12 chose Brett Yormark to lead its new era
What Yormark's walking into
Nicole Auerbach, senior CFB writer: College sports is at an inflection point. Athletes can now receive compensation from their names, images and likenesses — but they aren’t employees. There’s outside pressure from both the Supreme Court and Congress to reform rules and modernize various parts of the collegiate model. There’s internal pressure to reform the NCAA governance structure and figure out which schools make the most sense tethered together as Division I members. Plus, there’s conference realignment and a failed round of College Football Playoff expansion talks in the rear-view mirror (but that the FBS commissioners will need to pick up and nail down here in the coming months).
Of the five most influential positions in college sports, four have turned over in the past three years. Three jobs went to men who worked outside of college sports, and one went to a college administrative lifer. This has and will drastically change the room where major decisions are made. Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, the newest commissioner until Yormark starts, has made quite a splash.
He’s candid, open to discuss ideas publicly and willing to criticize decisions he doesn’t agree with. The processes of getting from Point A to Point B with the current Power 5 commissioner group are quite different than it was, say, five years in the past. Yormark will change that dynamic even further.
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What the Big 12 needs from its next commissioner
Max Olson, senior CFB writer: Money. A lot of money. There’s no doubt the Big 12’s upcoming TV contract negotiations were a defining issue in this search. Concerns about the diminished value of a deal that no longer includes Oklahoma and Texas – and what that means for every athletic department’s annual revenue distribution – have been present ever since the news of the SEC defection first broke.
The Big 12 needs to at least be in line with the Pac-12 and ACC when it comes to its financial future. What can Yormark do to maximize the Big 12’s value? Is the ideal strategy going forward a combination of linear and streaming partnerships? There’s also going to be the question of whether further expansion would be beneficial.
Bowlsby has previously said these talks are expected to begin in the spring of 2024, meaning Yormark has a little under two years to get prepared for this critical process.