Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark will step down from his role and take a position outside of college athletics, the league announced Friday. Yormark is expected to remain with the conference through January 31, 2027.
"Serving as the commissioner of the Big 12 Conference has been an extraordinary honor," Yormark said in a statement. "I want to thank the Big 12 Board of Directors, Board Chair Douglas A. Girod, athletic directors, coaches, student-athletes, fans, fellow commissioners and trusted colleagues at the league office. I am looking forward to passing the baton to the next commissioner and continuing to cheer their league on as a lifelong fan of the Big 12."
Yormark's tenure and impact
Yormark assumed the commissioner role in 2022 during a pivotal realignment period. He oversaw the addition of eight new schools over two years and negotiated a long-term television contract that stabilized the conference. An unconventional hire from outside college athletics — previously CEO of Jay-Z's Roc Nation, with experience in NASCAR and the Brooklyn Nets — Yormark expanded the Big 12's business portfolio, securing a naming-rights partnership with Monster Energy for football and basketball and introducing a live music halftime show at the Big 12 Championship Game.
His aggressive approach reshaped the conference landscape. While predecessor Bob Bowlsby added UCF, BYU, Houston and Cincinnati from the Group of Five, Yormark moved quickly to secure media rights with ESPN and FOX, effectively boxing out the Pac-12 and helping lure Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State to the Big 12, which contributed to the Pac-12's collapse. The league, once seen as vulnerable after the departures of Texas and Oklahoma, survived and increased its revenue under Yormark's leadership, though some initiatives — such as pursuing UConn and proposing international games — drew criticism.
Search for successor begins
With Yormark's departure, the Big 12 faces a critical hire ahead of its next media rights cycle in 2031. Kansas chancellor Doug Girod, who chairs the Big 12 Board of Directors, told ESPN he is "going in very open-minded" and seeks an innovator with campus experience who can drive revenue diversification. The conference now has a wider pool of candidates compared to previous searches, which traditionally favored insiders like the SEC's Greg Sankey and the ACC's Jim Phillips, while the Big Ten recently hired television executive Tony Petitti.
