Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark Supporting the Conference’s Athletes at Olympics

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is in Paris this week to support the conference’s athletes in the Olympics. Yormark delivered a message to Big 12 fans back home on Saturday.

“Greetings from Paris, Big 12 fans,” Yormark said. “So thrilled to be here. It’s just a wonderful moment. Over 151 of our student-athletes, both former and current, are here in Paris. They represent over 45 different countries. I’ll be seeing quite a few of the events over the next couple of days, and I just wanted to say hello and wish all of our athletes a great experience here in Paris.”

The Commish checking in from The City of Lights as the @Paris2024 Olympics get underway 👋@NCAA | #OlympiansMadeHere pic.twitter.com/ZZTfOKjvTS

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) July 27, 2024

The Olympic mark Yormark’s first public appearance since the Big 12 Media Days event earlier in the month.

In Las Vegas, Yormark fired off some comments that could be taken as a message to the rest of the nation. In addition to saying he believes the Big 12 will be the deepest conference in the country, Yormark also made it clear he’s still “open for business” as far as expansion.

“We are exploring all options. Two years later, you could say we’re still open for business,” responded to Yormark when asked if the conference is still looking to add schools.

Big 12 Commissioner Delivers Message of Ambition, Longterm Health of Conference

And despite the departures of Oklahoma and Texas, the two biggest brands from the past iteration of the conference, Yormark is still extremely confident in the longterm health of the Big 12.

“The Big 12 will always be ambitious because that’s who we are. I know there’s a lot of pressure on a lot of people right now, but I will leave you with this: pressure is a privilege,” Yormark explained.

“There’s never been a better time than right now to be in the Big 12. We are more relevant now than ever before,” he said with confidence.

Based on the data announced, that at least appears to be the case from a revenue perspective.

Yormark said the Big 12’s sponsorship revenue grew by 79% and ticket revenue grew by 23% during the 2023-24 season. He even proclaimed the Big 12 as among the country’s top conferences.

As far as his thoughts about how to provide Big 12 teams the best television exposure possible, Yorkmark reiterated being open to exploring all possible ideas.

“There’s a lot going on Saturdays. The questions are there new TV windows we can explore? To highlight our teams differently. We have to kick the tires and figure out other (TV) windows that make sense.”

Find information about WVU athletes representing the Big 12 by competing in the Olympics on WV Sports Now.