He's also working on extending the league's media rights agreement with FOX and ESPN, which expires in June of 2024. Yormark, who said during the league’s football media days that the Big 12 was “open for business,” reiterated that additional expansion is possible. “Looking at geography, obviously from a student-athlete perspective and travel, so all those principles are part of the decision-making but we’ll end up in a great place,” Yormark said.īut the work is far from done for the ever-changing league and its new leader. With 14 teams in the conference, that means the end of the current round-robin schedule in football. “So they’ll be here through the duration.” “They’ve committed themselves in advance of me getting here and they’ve reiterated that commitment,” Yormark said. But Yormark, who said he has a good relationship with both schools, anticipates both staying in the league through 2025. That type of leadership and approach should benefit the famously reactive conference, and it would be wise for the Big 12 and Yormark to stay aggressive in how they act and think.Īfter all, the race for bronze is still on, and even though the conference that finishes third in the future power rankings won’t be anywhere close to closing the gap on the Big Ten and SEC, it could benefit a great deal from a similarly sized gap between itself and the conferences sitting in fourth and fifth.Those two teams already have plans to head to the SEC and are rumored to be looking for an early exit. Yormark made it clear during his introduction in July that he’s agressive-minded and willing to wheel and deal in whatever realms are best for the conference. ![]() I can’t imagine that new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark will do so, and, for that reason - and others - the Big 12 is likely to remain in a good position moving forward. It might not be what it once was, but don’t underestimate ESPN’s reach and power. There’s good football being played in those smaller conferences and we already have seen what the power of marketing, branding and exposure can do for a sport, a team or a conference. But it also never seemed likely for UCLA and USC to be in the Big Ten, did it? Sure, it might not seem likely that the American Athletic Conference or the Mountain West have the sizzle to become a power conference. Look no further than what’s happening at San Diego State (new stadium), Boise State (new stadium) and SMU (eye-popping NIL collective) for proof that the little guys are strategizing and ready and willing to make moves. Just because most of the realignment headlines have involved college football’s power conferences, don’t think for a second that the so-called second tier isn’t constantly brainstorming ways to make itself more attractive in hopes of swooping in and collecting some of these mega millions that are now suddenly available. Not this time around and not with the stakes as high as they are. There’s no sense in leaving anything to chance here. And that’s another point for the Big 12 to drive home when selling itself to ESPN. But nobody is pretending that the Big 12, on its own, can compete with the Big Ten or SEC in terms of market and media value any longer. That might not sound like powerhouse stuff. Pete, Orlando, Salt Lake City and Cincinnati - when the four new programs join the conference one year before the current rights agreement expires. 65 and 67, respectively, in the most recent Nielsen ratings.īeyond that, in addition to adding Houston, the Big 12 also will be bringing in the 13th, 17th, 30th and 36th ranked TV markets - Tampa/St. 8) are Dayton and Honolulu, which ranked No. ![]() While the Big 12 might be locked out of top-three markets New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, it’s not as if Dallas (No. So fire up the full-court press to promote the conference’s media value. If we’ve learned anything in the various rounds of realignment over the years it’s that the waiting game is for fools. And it can be addressed both by highlighting the best conference showdowns as well as by scheduling to create even more attractive options in the nonconference slate in the future. Thank you for your support Learn More About Ad Blockers. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while youre here. We’re still talking a few years down the road here, so there’s no need to scour this year’s schedules to point out the best games. The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. Rather than sitting back and waiting for ESPN to come to the Big 12 as a fallback solution when its next television rights deal is negotiated, the Big 12 should look for opportunities to be proactive in doing whatever it can to remind the network that not only does ESPN need the conference but it should want it, as well. And while that stands to be great news for the Big 12 and likely what’s left of the Pac-12 as well, the powers that be at Big 12 headquarters would be wise not to take anything for granted.
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