Brett Yormark to Step Down as Big 12 Commissioner, Effective Jan. 31, 2027

Brett Yormark will step down as commissioner of the Big 12 Conference, effective Jan. 31, 2027, the league announced on Friday, Oct. 30, ending a tenure in which the conference rebuilt itself after losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC. A national search for his successor will begin immediately and will be led by the Big 12 Board of Directors, according to the conference.

Yormark is expected to take a role outside of college sports, the Kansas City Star reported, noting that the league announced the move following a report by ESPN's Pete Thamel. CBS Sports likewise reported that he will take a job outside of college athletics. The conference's announcement did not identify the new position.

"Serving as the commissioner of the Big 12 Conference has been an extraordinary honor," Yormark said in the conference's statement. "I am looking forward to passing the baton to the next commissioner and continuing to cheer this league on as a lifelong fan of the Big 12."

Leaving ahead of his contract

The announcement comes about a year and a half after Yormark signed a three-year contract extension that was to run through 2030, according to an Associated Press report published by Fox Sports. He has been commissioner since Aug. 1, 2022, Yahoo Sports reported, and will have served four and a half years in the job when he departs, according to USA Today.

The conference described him as its fifth commissioner since the league was formed 32 years ago. Kansas Chancellor Douglas A. Girod, chair of the Big 12 Board of Directors, credited him with steadying the league. "When Brett arrived, we were at a crossroads in the Big 12 and as a college sports enterprise," Girod said in the statement. "Brett's vision, business acumen, and confidence put us on the path we find ourselves on today."

An outsider who reshaped the league

Yormark came to the conference from outside college athletics. He was chief executive of Jay-Z's Roc Nation when he was hired to succeed Bob Bowlsby in 2022, Yahoo Sports reported, and he had previously served as CEO of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, according to the AP report. CBS Sports noted he had also worked in NASCAR.

His first major accomplishment, the Kansas City Star reported, was finalizing six-year agreements with ESPN and Fox worth $2.28 billion, reached after Texas and Oklahoma had announced their departures for the SEC. CBS Sports reported that Yormark moved ahead of the Pac-12 in those television negotiations and then lobbied Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State to leave that league, a sequence that ultimately contributed to its collapse. Those four schools joined the Big 12 after UCLA and USC left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, the Star reported.

Yormark also oversaw the arrival of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF, a move negotiated by Bowlsby, according to the AP. In total, the conference said he oversaw the integration of eight new members. In his statement, Yormark said the next commissioner "will inherit a conference that is '16 Strong.'" He added: "There has never been a better time to be a member of the Big 12 than right now."

Sponsorships and international games

Under Yormark, the league signed a multi-year agreement making Monster Energy the entitlement partner of Big 12 football and basketball regular seasons, with a co-branded logo now on jerseys, fields and courts, Yahoo Sports reported. CBS Sports noted the league also introduced a live music halftime show at the Big 12 Championship Game.

He pushed for games abroad. Kansas and Arizona State played a conference football game at Wembley Stadium in London this season, the Kansas City Star reported, and Yahoo Sports noted that Big 12 teams have appeared in Ireland's Aer Lingus College Football Classic in each of the past two years, including Iowa State and Kansas State in Dublin in 2025. The Star also reported that the Big 12 men's basketball tournament extended its stay in Kansas City through 2031 during his tenure.

Beyond the conference, the Big 12 said Yormark was involved in national discussions over the implementation of the House settlement, the creation of the College Sports Commission, the Protect College Sports Act and the expansion of the College Football Playoff.

The search ahead

Girod has said he is not looking to replicate Yormark. "I'm going in very open-minded," he told ESPN, as quoted by CBS Sports. "I don't need a (Yormark) twin." He said he wanted someone with campus experience who "is going to be an innovator and help us on that path of revenue diversification."

CBS Sports reported that the next commissioner will take over heading into the back half of the league's television contract, with more realignment expected ahead of a 2031 contract date. USA Today, citing people with knowledge of the league who were granted anonymity, reported that names mentioned as possible candidates include SEC chief legal officer Jessica Presnall, who spent a decade with the Big 12 and rose to chief operating officer, and American Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti. The Big 12 has not announced a timeline for naming a successor.