Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark steps down: On his legacy, the conference’s unique position and what’s next

Hired in the summer of 2022, he was the perfect commissioner to guide the conference through the realignment wave, tireless, aggressive, creative — a dealmaker’s dealmaker who locked in the media rights extension, added four schools from the Pac-12 and negotiated an early exit with Texas and Oklahoma.

Notably, Yormark’s announced exit comes four years to the day that he secured the media rights agreement with Fox and ESPN that ensured the Big 12’s survival and helped kneecap the old Pac-12.

His departure also echoes a fundamental truth of college sports, where executives responsible for momentous decisions rarely stick around until the bill comes due, leaving the fallout for others.

Yormark played an important role in two moves that are deeply unpopular with the public and carry unknown consequences: Expanding the NCAA Tournament to 76 teams and the College Football Playoff to 24.

Yormark will remain on the job through January before (presumably) moving to a role in the professional ranks, the place from which he came.

“Serving as the commissioner of the Big 12 Conference has been an extraordinary honor,” Yormark said in a statement released by the conference. “I am looking forward to passing the baton to the next commissioner and continuing to cheer this league on as a lifelong fan of the Big 12.”

The news is surprising in application — that it was today — but not in concept.

What were the odds that someone who spent decades in the sports business world would stick around long enough to guide the Big 12 though the next cycle of media rights deals and realignment decisions?

Those matters are three or four years away, an eternity for someone as ambitious as Yormark.

Also, there were breadcrumbs for those paying close attention.

Yormark’s conveyor belt of ideas encountered increasing resistance from the campuses, which were more conservative than their commissioner by a factor of 50.

“He made some mistakes,” an industry source said, “but he got the bigger stuff right. He has proven to be so right about so many of the big moves.”

Where should the Big 12 turn for his successor?

The obvious choice is American commissioner Tim Pernetti, a former athletic director (Rutgers) who understands the dynamics roiling college sports and was considered for the job in 2022 when the Big 12 ultimately settled on Yormark.

Kansas president Doug Girod, chair of the Big 12 board, told ESPN that he doesn’t need a Yormark “twin.”

Not an identical twin, perhaps, but a fraternal is paramount.

The Big 12’s strategic position in the major college landscape is somewhat precarious due to the dichotomy at the heart of the conference. The lack of football blue-bloods is its greatest strength and weakness, binding the schools together but limiting their capacity.

That existence stands in contrast to the ACC, which possesses a handful of schools (Miami, Florida State, Clemson and North Carolina) that have above-average media value and thus visions of jumping into the Big Ten and SEC.

That combination of media value and institutional ambition could cause the ACC to liquefy eventually. But in real time, it has allowed the ACC schools to pull away from the Big 12 financially. If you’re ranking the conferences by annual revenue distributed to the campuses, the Big 12 is a distant fourth.

Which makes revenue generation an imperative for the next commissioner.

Yormark understood that and was constantly looking for new sources of cash.

“How do we create value for our member institutions? It’s the No. 1 thing I think about when I wake up,” Yormark told reporters at the conclusion of the meetings last week in Frisco. “We’re doing everything we can.

That’s why he signed the Monster Energy sponsorship deal and tried the glass floor at the basketball tournament and partnered with Redbird to provide the campuses access to capital.

It’s also why Yormark attempted to add Gonzaga and Connecticut as non-football members.

Looking ahead, he saw the value high-level college basketball could have in the next media rights cycle and spoke publicly about the potential to negotiate separate deals for football and basketball inventory in the 2030s.

But the schools, for a variety of reasons, pushed back.

The timing for a departure was right for Yormark and, in some regards, for the Big 12.

With years remaining in the media rights contract cycle and postseason expansion finalized (for the CFP and NCAA Tournament), the industry now waits for Congress to pass (or reject) the Protect College Sports Act.

The outcome on Capitol Hill will undoubtedly spark a wave of changes in the manner college sports is governed, but the dealmaking aspect — Yormark’s specialty — has reached a lull.

The Big 12 has a window to hire its leader for the 2030s, allowing Yormark’s successor to establish a media strategy that suits a membership that is both defined by its uniformity yet desperate for more dollars.

“It will be interesting to see who they choose to replace him,” the industry source said. “Odds of that person being able to fill his shoes? We’ll see.”

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to wilnerhotline@bayareanewsgroup.comor call 408-920-5716

*** Follow me on the social media platform X: @WilnerHotline