BIG 12 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 13, 2022

Brett Yormark

Bob Bowlsby

Linda Livingston

Commissioner Press Conference

BOB BOWLSBY: This is typically the time when I do a state of the conference address, and so this year is just a little bit different than previous years. Obviously much has happened since we were together last in this venue for Media Day last year. In fact, some of you will recall that I said at the time that I thought our board was as aligned as I had seen them during my 10 years with the Big 12.

It was, I think, eight days later that OU and Texas announced they were going to the SEC. So you can take my assessment of calm waters for what they're worth.

Since then, as well, we've -- I think most of us got surprised by the USC/UCLA migration to the Big Ten, so indeed the seismic shifts are continuing in collegiate athletics.

Amid it all, the Big 12 had a great year. We had a record eight national team championships and another six team championships where we were runners-up.

Amazingly, one of the things I think we all saw this year was the emergence of the NCAA softball championship as a good draw on television and in live gate. We had three of the four semifinalists, and including the champion, in that tournament.

We've had a good year. Name a sport, and the Big 12 is competing well nationally, and we're competing at the very highest levels.

Men's and women's basketball, as an example, were 12-0 in the first round of the tournament last year. Didn't have a single team lose during the first round of the tournament.

Add to that Kansas's championship for the second year in a row, the conference had the men's National Championship, and in the Kansas case, they overcame the largest halftime deficit in the history of the championship game. Having teams in the last four Final Fours I think has capably established the Big 12 as the best basketball conference in the country.

We've had some other anecdotal things. I think we had more than a dozen individual student-athletes capture National Championships in one sport or another, and some kind of fun things. It was fun to see Cameron Norrie from TCU play in the semifinals at Wimbledon, and certainly seeing Highland Park's and UT's Scottie Scheffler win The Masters was something that was fun for all of us to watch.

It's been a good year. I think it has been a good year competitively. But additionally we added four new members during a hurried period last August and September. We now know that all four of the new members -- BYU, Cincinnati, Central Florida and Houston -- will all commence participation on July 1, 2023.

The process that we have recently gone through to merge the men's and women's basketball tournaments to both be in T-Mobile starting with the '24 championship I think is going to be a great thing. Our men's basketball tournament is arguably the best in college basketball, and our women's tournament is similarly prominent in terms of competitiveness and live gate. So both of them will be at T-Mobile, and as a result of that combination, we've extended our contract with T-Mobile and Kansas City through the '27 tournaments.

The last thing about this year that I think was significant is after a couple of years where we were really challenged by all things COVID, we now have recovered and this year distributed $42.6 million per institution in distributable revenue. That is a record, and it's fully 25 percent higher than what we were distributing just four years ago.

But you're here to talk about football today, and there's a lot to talk about in football. We ended up for the first time since we were a 12-team league having three teams finish the year with 11 wins. Baylor, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma all finished the year with 11 wins and finished in the top 10 in all of the major polls.

We were 5-2 in the bowl games last year and 10-2 over the last two years, so we've had lots of success.

I mentioned COVID earlier. I think as much as any conference, we have done a good job of navigating through the COVID challenges, and we all know what those have been. But whether it was in August of '20 when we found a path forward to continue to play games during the fall, or whether it was during the ramp-up of Omicron where we were trying to get the end of the season played and the postseason played in '21, I think our presidents and chancellors, our athletics directors, our Big 12 staff all did a great job.

We got a lot of work out of our physicians' council and can't thank those people enough. But I do think that we were a national leader, and the results of the number of games that we got played I think is indicative of that.

We welcomed three new coaches this year: Brent Venables at OU, Sonny Dykes at TCU and Joey McGuire at Texas Tech. All of them come with substantial resumes and lots of past success.

Interestingly enough, our conference champion from last year is picked first this year. Baylor goes from being the hunter to the hunted, and there are a number of institutions and football programs that will lay claim to an opportunity to win the championship this year.

It ought to be a really good period of time between September and December on the football field.

Last but not least, we have a new commissioner. I've enjoyed having Brett here this week and getting a chance to get to know him and sharing information and talking about what the challenges are. Brett brings a wealth of experiences and a lot of successful experiences throughout his career, and they will serve him well as he leads the Big 12.

I think you'll enjoy getting acquainted with him.

I wish for him the same relationship that I have had with all of you. I thank you for the professionalism with which you have covered the Big 12 and with which you've dealt with me over the years. I consider many of you to be not only colleagues but good friends, and really, really grateful for the many wonderful relationships that have emanated out of you doing your jobs and me doing my job.

You'll probably see me around a little bit, but I am grateful for the relationship that we've had, and I thank you for being here today.

That concludes my comments.

LINDA LIVINGSTONE: It's a pleasure to be with you today. I am pleased to be able to represent the Big 12 Board of Directors in the introduction of our new commissioner. Chair of the board, Lawrence Schovanec, president of Texas Tech, wished he could be with you today. He had a previous commitment in Washington, DC. So as vice chair of the board, I have the privilege to be with you today and will attempt to answer your questions today and provide some context for the hiring of our new commissioner.

First I want to extend my deep appreciation to Commissioner Bowlsby for his leadership of the conference over the last decade. If you look back to where we were nearly 365 days ago to where we are today, I think Bob deserves tremendous credit in the work he did with the athletic directors, with the board of directors, to bring in BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston in such a timely manner and to prepare us for where we are today, really a very different place than we were a year ago, a position of strength. And we're deeply grateful to Bob, not just for his work over the last year but certainly over the entire decade that he's led the Big 12 Conference.

Well, this is an exciting time in the Big 12. Obviously we're excited about the start of football season, the start of a new school year coming up soon and about the future of the Big 12 Conference.

It's my distinct honor today to be able to introduce, the first time publicly, our new commissioner, Brett Yormark.

I'm certain that Brett is just deeply appreciative of the way he was welcomed into the Big 12 Conference with, once again, conference realignment at the top of the list of things to deal with. I talked to him on the phone a couple of days after he was named, which was a couple of days after that happened with USC and UCLA, and I said, Well, welcome to college athletics, and you thought working for Jay-Z was really exciting.

As a reminder, his first day on the job is not officially until August 1, but I know he's already spent countless hours and probably all of his cell phone minutes working on behalf of the Big 12 in partnership with Commissioner Bowlsby, our athletic directors and our presidents as he works to help us navigate the uncertain and continually changing environment we face in college athletics today.

Well, you've read a lot about Brett and his background. As you know, he's been a leader at the intersection of sports and entertainment, working with global brands in NASCAR and the Brooklyn Nets, the NBA and top music performers. He's brokered some of the largest sports sponsorships ever through his work in NASCAR and the NBA, while also making the Barclays Center the new home of college basketball in New York City.

The challenges that we face in intercollegiate athletics are going to require hard work, innovative, creative thinking and strategic partnerships, and all of those qualities really represent the career that Brett Yormark has had and the way he has led other organizations that he's been a part of. We are looking forward to his leadership of the Big 12 and what's in store for us in the years ahead.

Please join me in welcoming or new Big 12 commissioner, Brett Yormark.

BRETT YORMARK: I'm so humbled to be here today and thrilled to join the Big 12 family. I'm in a transition period right now, and starting August 1 I will be working full-time out of the conference office.

With the events of the last couple of weeks, conference composition is once again at the forefront of college athletics. As such, I have been very involved with the stakeholders both inside and outside the Big 12 regarding our path forward and opportunities to grow both the Big 12 brand and business.

However, before I get into my vision for the Big 12, I would like to first recognize and thank my amazing family, all of which are here today -- my wife, Elaina; my daughter, Madison; and my son, Drake -- for their incredible love and support.

Thank you to Linda, board chairman Lawrence Schovanec and the entire Big 12 board of directors for having the confidence in me to be selected the conference's fifth commissioner.

A special thank you to the incredible Big 12 ADs who have welcomed me with open arms.

To the SWAs, FARs, administrators, coaches and student-athletes of the Big 12, I look forward to working on your behalf and being a great resource for you.

Lastly, to Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, thank you for all you have done for this conference over the last 10 years and for everything you have done for intercollegiate athletics during the course of your great career. You have left a lasting legacy and set a very high bar for me to follow. You will be an incredible resource for me, and I look forward to a long relationship with you.

Thank you again, Bob. You can give Bob a big hand, please.

(Applause)

As all of you get to know me, you will learn that I am about family, integrity, loyalty and dependability. My career path has often found me in the underdog position, although it has inspired me to do the unexpected.

With a background in the NBA, NASCAR, and most recently in the entertainment business, you might ask, why college athletics now?

Early in my career, I put together a progression ladder. It started with working for the New Jersey Nets, and it ended with a vision to be in college athletics. My passion for the collegiate space was fueled even more so with my many years at Barclays Center, where in a very short period of time we became a college basketball destination.

What excites me most about joining the Big 12 is the transformative moment in front of all of us today. We have an opportunity to grow and build the Big 12 brand and business, be aspirational, define our point of difference, all while never losing our commitment to always compete and develop our student-athletes at the highest levels.

Moments like these do not happen often, and we must seize them and make the most of them. It will require incredible work and collaboration.

One thing is for sure. There is no doubt the Big 12 is open for business. We will leave no stone unturned to drive value for the conference. Just as I pledged to the board, we will be bold and humble, aggressive and thoughtful, and innovative and creative, all in an effort to position the conference in a way that not only grows the Big 12 brand and business but makes us a bit more contemporary.

Although there will be challenges ahead, Bob has left me an incredible foundation to build upon. During August and September, I will conduct a listening tour and visit all 14 campuses. I will meet with stakeholders to gain a historical point of view and to ask what does success look like.

Following my first 60 to 90 days, I will report back to the board with my observations and how I see our path forward. I will work very closely with our member institutions to ensure we are prepared to seize opportunities that benefit our league, and if those happen within the first 60 days, we will move as fast as we need to.

One thing is crystal clear: There is no higher priority than to best position the Big 12 for its upcoming multimedia rights negotiations. Everything we do must create momentum for these negotiations, as well as building the value of the Big 12 brand and business.

I am learning the issues facing the NCAA and the conference in real time, such as name, image and likeness; the transfer portal; student-athlete well-being; considerations of the NCAA Transformation Committee; and the CFP expansion. I look forward to learning the perspectives of our stakeholders on these issues and more during my visit to campus.

I've been actively engaged in realignment and appreciate the incredible input I have received from everyone throughout the conference. Exploration and optionality is at the forefront of what we are focused on. Anything considered must be additive and not dilutive.

Sometimes the best deals are the ones that don't get done.

Although I have a lot to learn, I'm confident in my background and that it's well-suited for this role, and I'm excited to go to work.

I embrace the responsibility to be a steward of this great conference and to carry out the mission and vision of our member institutions. As much as we will aspire to do well, we must also aspire to do good and use our platform to drive positive change around us.

I am thankful for this incredible opportunity and am thrilled to be here. I want to wish all the football coaches and our student-athletes a very successful season. I want to thank everyone for attending Big 12 Football Media Days. I look forward to working with you and getting to know each and every one of you.

Thank you very much.

THE MODERATOR: We will now open it up to questions from the media.

Q. Mr. Yormark, is the Big 12 actively engaged with the four Pac-12 Conference schools that's being reported fairly widely?

BRETT YORMARK: As I said in my opening comments, we are exploring all options, and we're open for business. Optionality is good, and we're vetting through all of them.

I think it's fair to say I've received a lot of phone calls, a lot of interest. People understand the direction of the Big 12, and we're exploring those levels of interest. Nothing is imminent, but we're working hard to make sure that we position the Big 12 in the best possible way on a go-forward basis.

Q. Brett, could you give us reasons why it would make more sense for the Big 12 to grab teams from the Pac-12 other than the other way around?

BRETT YORMARK: It's a great question. Again, I'll say that there is not a definitive plan right now. We're exploring all options.

I can assure you that given the time I've spent with our presidents, our chancellors, our athletic directors, we are a very unified group. Bob mentioned that during his opening comments. It was one of the things that drew me to the job, the alignment that the board and AD community all have for going forward.

As we vet out the possibilities, everything will be additive, nothing will be dilutive, and I feel very confident that our conference is in the best position it's ever been in before. Bob is leaving us in a great place.

Q. Do you feel like the Big 12 could become one of these super conferences like the SEC and Big Ten?

BRETT YORMARK: As you get to know me, I don't really pay much attention to anything else but us. I think there's incredible upside with the Big 12. It's one of the reasons, again, I'm here today.

We have a chance to build our brand, our business, nationalize our conference in a way that hasn't been done before, and I'm excited to go to work and start that process.

Q. I'm not going to ask you a realignment question, but you've mentioned name, image and likeness a few times. Given your background, how do you feel you can best guide the universities as everybody kind of navigates this new thing that came to be last summer?

BRETT YORMARK: Well, I can say at a high level, I'm an advocate of NIL. I've gotten my feet wet to some degree at Roc Nation, where we have been engaged with NIL.

From a personal point of view, I have not really spoken to many of our key stakeholders about it. I think there needs to be guardrails. There probably needs to be uniformity. Maybe the conference needs to take a bigger role in what NIL looks like going forward.

But I think, given my background, having spent so much time in the commercial space, I'm very well-suited for NIL in whatever form it takes on a go-forward basis.

Q. I think on June 29th you knew you were hired. Two days later we get the Pac-12 news of USC and UCLA. What was your reaction? Was it, hey, this is interesting, or holy crap, what have I gotten myself into? What was your reaction?

BRETT YORMARK: My reaction was probably both. But I was excited about it in many respects because I saw there was opportunity. I figured I'd be thrown into it a little sooner than I had thought, and as Linda said, I've been working very closely with Bob and others on defining our path forward.

I do look at it as an opportunity. As I said earlier, we're going to vet out all the possibilities and options and determine where we go.

Q. Progression ladder, very intrigued by that philosophy. You touched on it a little bit, but what made the Big 12 and being the commissioner here an important part of your progression ladder? Secondly, I know you've met with the board. I know you've met with the athletic directors. I also heard you sought out the cell phone numbers of all the head football coaches. From those conversations, if that's true, what have you gleaned from the head football coaches in your conversations?

BRETT YORMARK: Well, first of all, I'm thrilled to be the next commissioner of the Big 12. As I said in my opening comments, I always had a vision to be in college sports. Candidly, I thought it might have been an AD, I wasn't sure.

But I was enamored with the space. It was fueled during my time at Barclays Center. When this opportunity presented itself, I said, let's give it a great shot, and thankfully it all worked out.

As it relates to the football coaches, I didn't have many conversations with the football coaches. Really for me it was a way to introduce myself, let them know I'm a resource, I'm 24/7 and I'm thrilled to be part of the Big 12 family.

So I did have some nice dialogue with many of the coaches, and it was more just very high level, me saying hello, and again, telling them I'm looking forward to seeing them this week.

Q. How do you look at the situation with Oklahoma and Texas? Is it a distraction for you with everything that you've got to tackle right out of the gate? Have you had a chance to build any relationships in Austin or Norman, something that I know you're going to want to see as important as they move forward, as well?

BRETT YORMARK: First of all, the folks from Texas, both the president and AD, as well as at Oklahoma, they've been very gracious to me. They were a part of the process in me getting hired, so I appreciate the support that I received.

I'm sure there's going to be a moment in time where we're going to sit down and discuss the future, obviously I don't start until August 1, and I look forward to doing that. That's really all I can say at this point in time.

Q. As a follow-up to the Texas/OU question, is it your goal for Texas and OU to remain in this conference throughout the remainder of that contract? Or with new teams coming in, does it behoove you to try to figure out ways for you guys to part ways a little bit sooner?

BRETT YORMARK: From my perspective, and again, I don't start until August 1, I have a lot to learn. But in any situation like this, I always look for a win-win scenario. That being said, it's important that whatever happens is in the best interest of this conference.

But I look forward at the right time to have those conversations. Thank you for your question.

Q. Obviously you have a long experience working in the Northeast, working in New York, working in Brooklyn. What drew you to this space, and what kind of made this conference and this timing right?

BRETT YORMARK: Well, as I said, first of all, I've spent a little time in Dallas over my career. When I was at NASCAR, I used to come here, obviously, for race weekends, and I liked the market. It's a very vibrant market, and looking forward to being part of the community. My plan obviously is to move here. I'm excited about that.

Just generally speaking, the move to the Big 12 was very exciting for me because I think we can have a very special moment. I think there is incredible upside here. Again, Bob has left me in a great spot, and my goal is now to take the baton and move it forward, and I plan on doing that with the collective staff at the Big 12.

In my opening comments I didn't have a chance to thank the staff at the Big 12, but I've spent the last two days in our office. Bob put together an incredible team, and I look forward to working with them. They have welcomed me with open arms, and I look forward to doing some incredible things with them over the course of the next couple of years.

Q. In your opening statement you mentioned creating a strong brand. From your experience what are some steps that go into creating a strong brand? And then, on the other side of that, what are some signals that a brand is strong?

BRETT YORMARK: From my perspective, again, Bob has positioned the brand in a great way, but I think there's opportunities, as I learn a little bit more about the brand and our fan base, to become a little bit more national, to position our brand a little younger, hipper, cooler, how do we connect a youth culture, diversify some of the things we're doing. And I think we have a great opportunity to do that.

I've been in the brand-building business and the business-building business in my days at NASCAR where we took a sport from predominantly the South and where the roots were and made it a national phenomenon. Obviously in Brooklyn we moved the team from the Nets, which was a bit of a depressed brand and franchise, and made it into a global brand.

My goal is to do something very similar here, and I'm excited about it, and I'm excited to go to work.

Q. Building on that, you mentioned the words "more contemporary" conference in your opening statement, as well. What does that look like to you? Can you detail a little bit about more contemporary, younger, hipper? What does that mean to you?

BRETT YORMARK: Well, for me, again, I think there's opportunities to use social media maybe a little bit more different, engage with our fans. I want to use content to help us with our storytelling. I think that's truly important.

I think when future student-athletes of this conference are thinking about where do they want to go next, as they're making those decisions what schools to go to, I want our brand to be aspirational. I want them to say, I want to go to the Big 12 for all the right reasons. And collectively with the group at the conference office, our goal is to do just that.

I'm very excited about it. I think there's a real opportunity.

Q. You mentioned a minute ago the transition from the Nets to the Barclays Center and kind of that rejuvenation that you did with that brand. How do you see the similarities here and maybe some bullet points on how you plan to do that with this conference?

BRETT YORMARK: Well, there are similarities in how you build a brand generally speaking. But I need to spend a little bit more time with the staff, get a better understanding of some of the data points. I know the conference has done a bit of a brand study, which I need to dive into. They've outsourced that exercise.

But I think, again, very similar to what I've done in my past, there's an opportunity to nationalize this brand, to be more aspirational, to appeal to youth culture, to get younger and hipper, and those are the things I'll be working on.

Q. What's football scheduling going to look like for next season?

BRETT YORMARK: I can't answer that just yet. I've got -- when I start on August 1st, meet with the team and better understand that. It's a great question, and in a couple of weeks I'll be able to answer that more appropriately.

Q. What are your early thoughts on expanding the playoff from 4 to 12 teams? And the second question is I understand that you know Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff from the same media circles. What's your relationship like with him now that you are exploring expansion with his conference?

BRETT YORMARK: Good questions. As far as the first one on CFP, I plan on spending a lot of time with Bob, obviously. He was intimately involved in expansion conversations and modeling. I do get D1.ticker now so I'm keeping myself abreast of who's saying what in that space.

I look forward to spending time also with Bill Hancock. He is one of the first meetings I'll be taking here in Dallas when I start on August 1, and I look forward to having meaningful conversations with my fellow Power Five commissioners on that subject.

As it relates to George, George and I have known each other for quite some time, but I know many of the other Power Five commissioners. I've been engaged with them daily on conversations. George is a great guy. He's doing a great job with the Pac-12. No different to any other commissioners, we're vetting out all possibilities and options. But I'm glad to be part of the group. There's a great group of guys there.

Q. I was wondering, when it does come time to negotiate a new media rights deal with TV networks, streamers, whatever it may be, what do you think the top selling points will be when you're talking with those people? How attractive is this conference to new TV networks?

BRETT YORMARK: First of all, I'm bullish on the conference. What we look like today and what we look like when we enter those negotiations could be very different.

Obviously we've got three more years with our current partners. I've had a working relationship with ESPN and FOX for many years. I'm big fans of what they do. They're the best in the business. I look forward to at the right time engaging with them on meaningful conversations on how we can enhance and amplify the value equation and how they glamorize and promote and market our great conference.

There aren't any specifics that I can speak to now as far as how we're going to position ourselves differently because there's a long time between now and when we'll commence negotiation, but I'm looking forward to that moment.

And as I said earlier, everything we do from this point forward will lead towards that negotiation period, how we build our brand, how we build our business, conference realignment. All that will probably play a role in whatever dialogue we have.

Q. The gentleman sitting to your right there even after 10 years was able to surprise us from time to time. Last year he dropped a bomb that he was a college wrestler, which I didn't know. Maybe other media in the room did at the time. But what is something about Brett Yormark that we might not know, that we would be surprised to know?

BRETT YORMARK: That's a great question. I mean, listen, I used to be a drummer, believe it or not. I love music, and obviously I spent some time at Roc Nation, and I haven't even kind of discussed that with my kids that often over the years.

But I was a drummer, and my twin brother was a drummer, also, and we played in a band. I'm dating myself, but not many people know that, and maybe that's where I developed my fondness for music, generally speaking. But I'd say that's probably something that's unexpected when people hear about it.

THE MODERATOR: That will conclude the question-and-answer portion. Thank you very much.