Big 12 Commish Yormark speaks at hoops media day
First-year conference commissioner Brett Yormark was back in front of the Big 12 media this week in Kansas City and provided an update on several topics. Here's everything Yormark had to share during his time at the podium.
Q. Thank you for being here with us, Commissioner. Welcome to Kansas City.
YORMARK: Thrilled to be here. In fact, when I arrived last night, I think it's my first time in Kansas City.
Q. Welcome. I hope you get to have some barbecue and see all the sights.
YORMARK: I'll tell you, it reminds me of New York. A little cold. Thrilled to be here.
Q. It really does feel like Big 12 tournament time. We'll talk about that in just a moment. This is a very dynamic time to be in college athletics and to become conference commissioner. You officially became the Big 12 commissioner on August 1. Tell me a little bit about what the first 60-plus days have been like to be here.
YORMARK: First of all, humbled to be here. Humbling to be the commissioner of the Big 12. It's been a great two and a half months. I spent time with key stakeholders, better understanding the issues unique to each campus, and took a lot back to the conference office. We're addressing many of those issues in an effort to get better. That's been my theme. Nothing's broke here, but how do we get better in everything we do?
We've gone through an organizational redesign at the conference level. Obviously, I've got a mission and vision I've been articulating. We want to be bold but humble. We want to be aggressive and thoughtful. We want to drive commercial value for this conference in every way possible, and I think the first 60-plus days has afforded me the opportunity to lay out our blueprint, to start staffing, and to start executing against that strategy. It's been great.
Q. Fantastic. I know one of your priorities is to contemporize the Big 12 brand. The conference office announced this week a new creative partner you're bringing on. What does that look like in your mind, and what changes might we see here for the Big 12 basketball championship?
YORMARK: Well, first of all, I want to nationalize the conference. I want future student-athletes to want to come to the conference for all the right reasons. I want us to show up in places we haven't been before.
Yes, we hired Translation. In fact, we announced that partnership yesterday, and they're a great agency out of Brooklyn, New York. They do an incredible job of connecting brands to culture, which I certainly think is something that we need to work on. I'm very excited about it.
In addition to Translation, we've done a lot of outsourcing to Endeavor. I announced that about a month ago. They're helping us with our commercial strategy and content strategy. We're hard at work in trying to realize that modernization of the conference, and I think you'll see that over the course of the tournament here in March. How do we use music? How do we visually look a little different?
There are some things we're going to totally do differently here. We haven't changed prices in ten years so we've got to raise prices.
We are going to move the media. That court side seating is now going to be extended to our fans from across the country that are coming in for, you know, the tournament. And we're going to use music, as I said. We're going to provide some premium hospitality offerings for the first time here so you're going to see a pointed difference.
Next year, obviously, the women come here, which is truly exciting. Hopefully, we'll be able to double down on some of those changes.
Q. What do you see as opportunities but then also the challenges for the Big 12 and its members?
YORMARK: For us, it's all about opportunity right now. I live in a world where life is half full, and I'm really bullish on this conference. I think there's many, many places we can go, both domestically and internationally. I think we're going to lay out an international strategy over the next six months because I think that's critically important.
But, again, getting back to what I've said earlier, how do we nationalize? How do we get in the consciousness of future student-athletes? How do we grow revenue and diversify our revenue? How do we work with our media partners, ESPN and FOX, the best in the business, to help elevate and amplify everything we do? And we're working hard at it.
So I think there's enormous opportunity for this conference; expansion, potentially. We'll see where that takes us. If it's additive, as I've said before, we'll pursue it. If not, I'm thrilled with where we are today and the composition of this conference, especially with the four new incoming institutions coming in in July. So lots of opportunity to take advantage of.
Q. That's awesome. The conference media rights agreement with ESPN and FOX go through the end of the '24-' 25 seasons. It's recently been announced that the three parties are going to explore if there was a desire to begin that negotiation early. How have those discussions been going?
YORMARK: Going well. I said it last week during our New York media blitz. We've had meaningful discussions. Initially, it was all about is this something we want to pursue? Is there a desire to get to the table and see if we can do an early extension?
I think, on both sides, the answer to that question was yes. Everyone's motivated. The question is, can we get to a deal? And I have some parameters in place that I'm looking for, and we'll see if we can get there. If we can't, we'll wait 16 months and ultimately go into that exclusive negotiating period.
My gut tells me we get something done before that.
Q. That's good news for everybody around here. People will be excited to hear that.
YORMARK: Very optimistic.
Q. That's great. Now, both the SEC and the Big Ten have expanded and signed their television contracts that significantly enhance and increase their distributable revenue. How does the Big 12 close that revenue gap going forward?
YORMARK: First of all, getting back to the TV negotiations, I know the media has stated that with the loss of Texas and Oklahoma, our number would go backwards. Let me say it very clearly: We're not going backwards, and we're not staying flat. We're going up.
The question is how far up? So we grow revenue when you think of our multimedia rights deal. Beyond that, we need to diversify revenue. We need to have events and know how to monetize them. How do we create IP? How do we provide premium experiences? Do we create a direct-to-consumer platform that helps us connect with our displaced fans?
There's lots of different things that we're exploring. Obviously, working very closely with Endeavor on our commercial strategy, but it's not just our TV rights. It's how can we grow the pie, and I'm anxious to get started in doing that.
Q. That's good to hear. One of those things people talk about as it relates to television rights and media rights is also the expansion as it relates to women's athletics. We know this league has had outstanding success. As we sit here today with Big 12 Women's Basketball Tipoff, how big is that piece of the pie as you look at it for women's athletics and moving those programs forward, and how do you continue to elevate them in the media world?
YORMARK: I think it's critically important. When we're sitting down with ESPN and FOX, we're making it known that we want to amplify and elevate women's sports in every way possible. And I'm dedicated to it, truly committed.
Would I love to see prime time basketball for women? Of course I would. Am I discussing that? Absolutely. So, yes, we want everyone on an even playing field to the best possible way we can. And at a conference level, driven by myself and many others, we're committed to it.
Q. This is an athletic Big 12 that is coming off one of its most successful seasons. Some of the numbers are eight national championships, six more teams finishing as runners-up across the Conference's 23 sports that the Big 12 has. Big 12 football is off to a fantastic start. The Conference is home to the last two men's basketball national champions. Talk a little bit about athletic strength, the depth of this league, and how that looks today but, also, in the future.
YORMARK: Well, I think the depth of this league is playing out week to week, especially during the football season. When I did the listen and learning tour, I realized we're a conference of 23 championships -- 23 sports, 22 championships. There's incredible depth here. You're right.
Eight national championships last year, six runner-ups. It was an incredible year. I think this year gets better. The football season, the parity. The attendance is up, the ratings are up. And the story about Kansas here was fantastic. I was here during GameDay when they played TCU. In fact, it was the highest-rated GameDay of the year.
So this conference is in a great place, and it's only getting better.
And then when you fast-forward to basketball season, I saw the preseason polls yesterday. Five of our teams are in the top 25. Women's came out today. Four are in the top 25. So it just gets better and better and better.
And when expansion unfolds next year for us and we welcome four great institutions into our family, I think we get even stronger. So it's a great time to be part of the Big 12. I'm just thrilled and humbled that I'm one of the leaders, and excited about the future.
Q. The future also, as we sit here today, we look ahead to the basketball season. And you're a basketball person, having been around the Nets and in the NBA for many, many years. What it does look like from someone coming into the collegiate game to say how important college basketball really is both to the landscape of all of our institutions in this league but just on a national level as well?
YORMARK: You know, it's interesting. You come into this conference and, yes, I have a bit of a basketball background, and I'm a bit of a fan.
Q. That's good.
YORMARK: And you hear a lot about football, which is understandable, but basketball's huge. I mean, it's a global sport. It's played everywhere. And I'm truly excited to be part of this conference.
On the men's side, we're arguably the number one conference in America. I'm not sure from top to bottom any other conference stacks up to us. On the women's, it's fantastic. As I was going through some of the data points, 11-0 first round of last two NCAA tournaments. It's incredible. I'm excited to attend a lot of games this year and to be involved. I'm excited for our basketball brand and where it can go in the future.
Q. I think if the football season is any indication of the excitement and fan support, I think you're going to see that with Big 12 basketball all across this league over the course of the next year.
YORMARK: Yeah, I'm excited about it. I plan on being on the road quite a bit, ultimately ending here. I hear the environment here is just epic.
