Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark Has Plan in Expanding Conference

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark spoke with the media on a call Friday afternoon. Yormark discussed various topics such as conference expansion, record revenue, data rights deal, Mexico plan and more.

“We have some guiding principles when we think about expansion. It’s all strategic here,” Yormark said. “At the top is the academic alignment and the leadership and the cultural fit and the geography and the athletic performance and the upside that a potential institution has potentially joining the Big 12. We think about all of those things as a collective group. And we discussed all those guiding principles this week.”

Brett Yormark on #Big12expansion: “We have guiding principles we think about expansion… at the top is the academic alignment and the leadership and the cultural fit and the geography and the athletic performance and the upside.” pic.twitter.com/bTy3gnXr97

— Heartland College Sports (@Heartland_CS) June 2, 2023

Big 12 Athletic Directors and Presidents met in West Virginia at the Greenbrier this week. Conference expansion was a topic brought up during the week.

“We had a great discussion about expansion and we have a plan. We have an appetite to be a national conference and we believe in the upside of basketball,” Yormark said.

During the last couple of weeks, the Big 12 has been at the front of many expansion rumors. Yormark brings up the upside of basketball. It was rumored that the Big 12 has continued talks with Gonzaga joining the conference.

Report: Big 12 Expansion Negotiations to Discuss Adding Gonzaga

Gonzaga has put themselves in a position to be known as one of the modern-day blue bloods. Since the hiring of Mark Few in 1999, the Bulldogs have reached the NCAA Tournament Championship twice, 2-Final Fours, 13-Sweet Sixteens and 24-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Big 12 is heading into the 2023-24 academic year with 14 teams for just a short one-year run. Texas and Oklahoma will leave the conference in the summer of 2024 but first will introduce BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF on July 1 of this year. Both football and basketball will have different schedules for the first time in the Big 12 in over a decade.

Yormark estimates that the conference revenue split between the 10 teams this past academic year made $440 million. That would be $44 million distributed to each institution.

Post @Big12Conference meetings presser notes from Brett Yormark:

Big 12 will distribute a record estimated $400 million!

Data rights deal will be announced in the coming weeks.

Big 12 Mexico plan will be announced next week.

“We have a plan.” Yormark said about expansion.

— Ten12 Network is now Network (@Ten12Network) June 2, 2023