Big 12 Commish Brett Yormark Reportedly Agrees to Contract Extension Through 2030
On the heels of a recent expansion and lucrative new media rights contracts, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has been rewarded with a contract extension.
Per ESPN's Pete Thamel, the Big 12 board of directors has agreed to a three-year extension with Yormark that will keep him as commissioner through 2030.
The 58-year-old previously worked as co-CEO of Roc Nation, the entertainment company founded by Jay-Z, from 2019 to 2022 before he was hired by the Big 12 after Bob Bowlsby stepped down as commissioner.
Less than three months after being appointed to the job, Yormark helped the Big 12 negotiate a six-year, $2.28 billion media rights contract with ESPN and Fox.
The agreement was finalized in July 2023 and goes into effect starting with the 2025-26 academic year. Each Big 12 school will see an increased payout from $220 million under the previous deal to $380 million annually.
In addition to the media rights agreement, the Big 12 announced in 2023 it was expanding by unanimously voting to approve Arizona State, Arizona and Utah. It also approved Colorado's addition to the conference in a separate vote.
Those four programs officially joined the conference starting with the 2024-25 academic year. Their additions brought the total number of Big 12 schools up to 16.
In Yormark's first three years as commissioner, the Big 12 has won eight national titles in all sports. TCU won its first beach volleyball national championship over the weekend, defeating Loyola Marymount in the final.
The Big 12 has sent two teams to the College Football Playoff during Yormark's tenure. Houston's men's basketball team advanced to the national title game this season, losing to Florida.
Yormark's original contract with the Big 12 was a five-year deal that ran through 2027. If he remains in his job through the end of his extension, he will become the third-longest tenured commissioner in the history of the conference after Bowlsby (2012 to 2022) and Kevin Weiberg (1998 to 2007).
