Big 12 commish Brett Yormark 'seized the moment' by adding Arizona, others to conference

Three days after the University of Arizona announced its decision to end its 45-year relationship with the Pac-12 conference and bolt to the Big 12 starting in 2024, UA president Robert C. Robbins lauded Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark as “very engaging” and “very aggressive” in a most historic offseason in collegiate athletics.

Earlier this month, the Wildcats, in sync with Arizona State and Utah, joined Colorado as the “Four Corners” members of the Big 12 — moves that came in near lockstep with Oregon and Washington following USC and UCLA as Pac-12 members headed for the Big Ten in 2024.

The motivation was clearly financial. In the case of those joining the Big 12, its media rights deal with ESPN and Fox starting in 2025 is worth $2.3 billion overall and promises each member school $31.7 million annually; a recent Apple-centric streaming partnership proposed by Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff to the Pac-12 wasn’t at that level.

Yormark, an east-coast businessman and former CEO of Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment along with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, became bullish in capitalizing on the vulnerability of the Pac-12 by poaching four of its members.

“As a heart surgeon, I like that,” Robbins said. “He has a set of goals he wants to achieve, and he does it in consultation (with university presidents and chancellors), as I understand from our friends in the Big 12.

“Collectively, they have a vision for what they want to see the Big 12 evolve to, and I like that aggressiveness,” Robbins added. “In the times that I’ve talked to him, we’ve had very positive conversations, so I’m looking forward to his leadership.”

Yormark said he’s “always been aggressive, and it’s been my nature, wherever I’ve been.”

“I think when you look at the aggressors, even in collegiate athletics, most of the time the aggressor wins,” Yormark said. “That’s not always the case. You’ve got to be aggressive, but you also need to be pragmatic and strategic and have a vision, which we have. But I’ve always been aggressive, we’ll continue to be aggressive when need be. And I think it’s a part of the DNA of this conference moving forward. We’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to be bold, we’ll be humble as well. But aggressive and bold will be the makeup of this conference, no question about it.”

Yormark spoke Tuesday via videoconference with a reporter each from the Star, Arizona Republic and Salt Lake Tribune to answer questions regarding the future of the Big 12 as a super conference in collegiate athletics:

Are you looking to add any more teams from the Pac-12 or other conferences in the near future?

A: “Right now, we’re done. We had a vision. We had a strategy, and effectively we’ve been able to execute it. Initially, I wasn’t sure if we’d go to 14 or 16 (universities). I think 16 was kind of the dream scenario, candidly. From our perspective, our focus right now is to integrate the four incoming schools as quick as we can — get them comfortable. We’ve already had a couple of transition calls and Zooms with the corner schools, and I’ll be making some campus visits. That’s my focus right now.

“We feel very good about our future. What our membership composition looks like, when you think about it in terms of where we were and where we are and where we’re going, we will be a conference in 10 different states with access to over 90 million consumers in four different time zones. It presents a lot of opportunities and a lot of possibilities for the conference. That’s a little longwinded to say I’m very comfortable where we are, and our focus now has shifted to execution and making sure that we — and again — integrate those four schools as quickly as we can and make them feel a part of the family.”

Were any of these schools a package deal?

A: “From my perspective, I had independent conversations ultimately with all four schools. There was probably an appetite for all of them to figure out what they were going to do, and I’m sure there were ongoing conversations amongst the four, but ultimately my conversations were very independent and directed in a singular fashion to each of the schools, and I think all four schools made a decision that was in their best interest ultimately. They concluded that joining the Big 12 was in their best interest, not only today, but for the future. I think that’s what ultimately what drove their decision.”

When did it become a reality that you could open up the Big 12 and add schools from the Pac-12?

A: “We had a vision, and I felt all along that Colorado made the most sense just because they’ve been here before and they were very familiar with the Big 12. Once Colorado decided to come, I wasn’t sure if one was going to lead to two or three or four, but I always felt there was a possibility that they weren’t coming on their own, just given what I’ve been reading and just the climate around the conference.

“I will say it wasn’t until that (Aug. 4) morning that I felt that we had a possibility to get all (four) ‘Four Corner’ (schools), just with what was going on in real time. We took advantage of the moment, and we seized the moment. I’m thrilled about our future and thrilled that the four corner schools decided to be a part of our family.”

This decision is football- and men’s basketball-driven, so how does expanding the conference affect other sports and Olympic sports?

A: “I think it’s going to be incredible. I was telling my colleagues yesterday, when you look at our Olympic sports now on a go-forward basis, we’ve gotten stronger in so many areas, and I’m really impressed by the level of performance within the Olympic sports that the Pac-12 had, and candidly, I wasn’t that close to it.

“But we’ve gotten stronger. One of the goals, even in advance of expansion, from a conference perspective, was to elevate and amplify Olympic sports, and to tell the incredible human-interest stories that exist in those sports, and to work with our media partners in order to better market and promote. We’ve just gone to a whole new level based on expansion, and I look forward to what the Olympic sport platform can mean to this conference on a go-forward basis, and I’m very excited about it.”

Will the 16-team Big 12 Conference have divisions or pods to help with scheduling?

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A: “I will tell you, it’s a priority.

“We’ve had some initial transition (Zoom calls), and I had my leadership team meetings this week in Dallas. And scheduling is at the height — at the top — of that priority list as far as things to address. And we will create some committees made up amongst our membership and start vetting out all those possibilities, keeping the student-athlete health and well-being as a priority. We’ve always had that as a guiding principle when we’ve done scheduling, and that will continue. In fact, this week, we have an (athletic director) meeting here in Dallas. The ADs of the four incoming schools will be here and we’ll start those conversations immediately.”

How do you avoid travel conflicts for teams of non-revenue sports that now have to travel across the country during their seasons?

A: “All that’s being vetted out. We’re in the process right now.

“It was just (over) a week ago ... that this thing came to life, if you will. So we have a lot of work ahead of us, and scheduling is a priority, and our teams are engaged. Like I said, the ADs are in town on Thursday, and that vetting process and that dialogue will start.”

Regarding conference tournaments and football championships, have you considered changing locations now that other teams are a part of the conference?

A: “We have. We have some long-term relationships and great partnerships right now. But as we think about the future, we think about some of our Olympic sports, we think about new IP, that we’re in the process of creating, we’ve got new markets that we can go to now. Markets that are incredibly important. So I’m excited about what the possibilities are, and we are fully engaged in that mode right now.

“So I wouldn’t be surprised if some of our Olympic sports, more so than than football and basketball, move almost immediately. I also feel that some of the new IP, like I said that we’re working on, could find its way into some very exciting markets, like a Las Vegas. So more to come on that. But now that our footprint is in 10 states, we’ve got lots of possibilities.”

You brought up ‘vision,’ so what is the long-term goal for the Big 12, and how do you see it rivaling the Big Ten and the SEC?

A: “Right or wrong, I don’t look at is competing with the Big 10, the SEC. For me, it’s about being the best version of ourselves, and that’s the way it’s been since I took the job a year ago. If you’ve seen the progress we’ve made in the last year, it’s been somewhat transformational, and we’ll continue to move down the field and continue to progress in all the different ways we need to.

“Obviously, there’s a revenue gap, and I’m working on that, too, and creating new and exciting opportunities for our conference, elevating and enhancing our championship experiences, but also driving revenue and creating value. So we’ve got a lot of new initiatives. But it really comes down to being the best version of ourselves and not necessarily looking at what the Big 10 and the SEC are.”

How does Arizona’s basketball brand fall into the Big 12 fabric?

A: I think it only elevates us. We’re the No. 1 basketball conference in America and have been by every metric over the last 8-10 years. My goal, when I got here, when I discussed expansion, was to continue to elevate basketball. We didn’t want to compromise football, we understand the place that holds within our conference.

“Arizona, I mean, my God, fantastic legacy program. If you’re to ask our basketball coaches, they’re thrilled with the addition of Arizona. Think about our tournament in Kansas City. With the incoming schools and those that currently exist. It’s our own mini March Madness. It’s going to be incredible.”

Have you spoken with Kliavkoff since adding four Pac-12 schools?

A: “Yeah, I did. I spoke to George last week. We had a very collegial conversation. In fact, he was fantastic. I told him I was sorry that our gain was his loss. Obviously, you don’t want to see any conference compromised. But this was something that we had to do, and I wished him the best moving forward.

“George and I, like I said, are very collegial and we’ll see each other at some industry events here shortly. So we had a very positive conversation.”

What would’ve been the Big 12’s alternative plan if Arizona, Arizona State and Utah decided to stay in the Pac-12?

A: “As you get to know me, I do a lot of whiteboarding, and there’s always scenario A, B, C, and D in everything I do. So if this scenario wasn’t going to unfold, there was a couple of others we were just going directly to. I’m not going to get into the details, but we had lots of optionality. As we all get to know each other, you’ll realize that that’s how I run our business, making sure that we have optionality, we go through scenario management, and we spend the time that is needed to do the right due diligence.

“And obviously, this is an incredible scenario for us. Incredible. And we’re honored. But there was lots of optionality for us, if this wasn’t going to ultimately happen.”