• Loading stock data...
Friday, August 29, 2025
Front Office Sports Honors winners are here! View the 2025 winners

Big 12’s Brett Yormark Doesn’t ‘Wake Up Thinking’ About SEC, Big Ten

  • The Big Ten and SEC are meeting this week in Nashville to discuss issues related to the future of college sports.
  • Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark tells FOS he isn’t concerned with what they’re up to.
Sep 6, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark before the game between the Southern Methodist Mustangs and the Brigham Young Cougars at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

SEC and Big Ten commissioners and athletic directors will meet this week in Nashville to discuss issues related to the future of college sports, including a potential future football scheduling partnership. The meetings are an extension of a collaboration (dubbed an “advisory committee”) between the two conferences established in February.

The conversations look to some in the industry like the NCAA’s two heavyweight leagues coming together to chart the course of the NCAA’s future themselves. But one of the other power conferences, the Big 12, isn’t concerned about the meetings or reports of a scheduling alliance between the Big Ten and SEC.

“I don’t wake up thinking about the Big Ten and the SEC,” Brett Yormark, commissioner of the Big 12 conference, tells Front Office Sports at the Advertising Week event in New York City. “I really focus on—how does the Big 12 become the best version of itself? If we do that, we’ll take care of business in the right way.

“Obviously, it’s received a bit of press, but—not focused on it. Really,” he added.

Yormark is working on what can create value for his current members, he said. During a panel, Yormark discussed the value of having more events in major media markets like Las Vegas, where there’s no Big 12 footprint “yet.” He is reportedly considering private equity deals and naming rights deals, and he has led conversations around potentially adding UConn to the league to bolster its already top-tier basketball—though he paused those conversations at the direction of his members earlier this year.

The power struggle among the Power 4 ebbs and flows depending on this issue.

Yormark and the Big 12, as well as the ACC and commissioner Jim Phillips, collaborate with the Big Ten and SEC on plenty of issues from lobbying in Congress to the House v. NCAA settlement (for which they are joint defendants along with the NCAA and Pac-12). The Big Ten and SEC have not formally claimed they will unilaterally decide the future of college sports—and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has even said he hopes to bring others into the conversations.

But there’s concern the Big Ten and SEC could have outsized influence on the future college sports landscape. The conferences are considered the two most powerful and wealthy in the NCAA, and they have already flexed their muscles in previous negotiations. For example, they landed a contract for the College Football Playoff that, starting in 2027, awards them 59% of all CFP revenue distributions. 

Standing in the hallway of the Advertising Week conference in New York, though, Yormark seemed nonplussed. “I feel really good about our position as a conference,” he said.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Apr 19, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during the spring game at Folsom Field.

Coach Prime Enters Year 3 at Colorado With New Challenges

The Buffaloes have sold out their season tickets yet again.

As CFB Programs Add Corporate Field Logos, Are Jersey Patches Next?

Texas is adding a sponsor’s logo to its football field this season.

The Next Chapter in the Network Battle for College Football Dominance

Fox and ESPN will jockey for viewers and attention at Texas–Ohio State.

Fox, YouTube TV Avoid Blackout With Short-Term Deal

The upcoming Texas–Ohio State clash will remain available to subscribers.

Featured Today

‘You’re Going to Get Beat Up’: The Liberty’s All-Male Practice Squad

A select group suits up weekly to take on the defending champs.
August 24, 2025

The Honey Deuce Effect: How Tennis Perfected the Signature Cocktail

Sold every 1.5 seconds, they total more than $12 million in sales.
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) warms up as the Texas Longhorns prepare to play the Clemson Tigers in the first round of the College Football Playoffs at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.
August 23, 2025

Schools Are Hesitant to Allow PE Into Their Athletic Departments

Regardless of budget, schools don’t believe the risk is worth the reward.
Oct 2, 2024; Rosemont, IL, USA; Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti speaks with the media during the 2024 Big Ten Women’s Basketball media day at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
August 22, 2025

‘Not Ready to Jump In’: Power 4 Commissioners Aren’t Sold on PE

Top leaders in college sports have yet to see a satisfactory proposal.
Ohio State mascot Brutus interacts with Lee Corso on the set of ESPN College GameDay prior to the College Football Playoff first round game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Tennessee Volunteers in Columbus on Dec. 21, 2024.

End of an Era: Lee Corso Making Final ‘College GameDay’ Appearance

After 430 iconic headgear picks, the iconic coach bids farewell.
Oregon State Beavers quarterback Gevani McCoy (4) scrambles out of the pocket during an NCAA football game against UNLV at Reser Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Corvallis, Ore.
August 27, 2025

Pac-12 Strikes New Football, Basketball Deal With The CW

The latest step in its resurrection after being picked apart in 2023.
August 27, 2025

College Football Players Projected to Earn $1.9B This Year, Nearly Double 2024

The spike comes in the first season of revenue-sharing.
Sponsored

Gareth Bale on MLS vs EPL, Retirement & Buying Cardiff City

Gareth Bale shares his post-soccer business playbook.
Oct 17, 2015; Evanston, IL, USA; A general view of the Northwestern Wildcats logo at midfield before the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Ryan Field.
August 25, 2025

Northwestern AD Singles Out Volleyball As Sport to Invest In

Northwestern athletic director Mark Jackson spoke to Front Office Sports.
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) is tackled by Clemson Tigers defensive tackle Payton Page (55) during the second half of the CFP National playoff first round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
August 25, 2025

As College Football Season Kicks Off, NIL Deal Approval Process Still Lags

Many deals are stuck in “purgatory,” one power conference collective operator says.
August 25, 2025

$12.5M Freshman Bryce Underwood Named Michigan’s Starting QB

The Wolverines paid big money to land the highly touted recruit.
McDonald's All-American
August 22, 2025

NCAA Considers Making High School Athletes Register NIL Deals

The rule would likely be tested in court if adopted.