Big 12 Commisioner Brett Yormark speaks on the conference and Houston during ESPN College GameDay at the Fertitta Center, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 in Houston, Texas. | Raphael Fernadnez/The Cougar

The Big 12 conference’s board of directors has voted to give commissioner Brett Yormark a three-year contract extension, the conference board chair announced Tuesday. 

Yormark’s extension runs through the 2029-30 academic year and is his first as commissioner, after signing a five-year contract in 2022 to succeed Bob Bowslby, who retired after a ten-year tenure.

“We have made great progress over the last three years, and our best days are ahead,” Yormark said in a statement. “I am thrilled to continue to work alongside our member schools as we grow and strengthen the Big 12 into a conference that is innovative and prepared for what the future may hold.”

The beginning of Yormark’s tenure marked splashes of a new media rights deal with ESPN and Fox, and an immediate four-school expansion effective in the 2023-24 academic season, which included the University of Houston. 

Yormark capitalized on the Pac-12 conference’s failure to land a strong new media deal, extending Big 12 invites to four of its institutions to mark the second conference expansion in two years and a conference total of 16 schools. His charge also marked the Big 12 conference return of the University of Colorado after the school departed from the original alignment of the conference in 2010. 

Although Yormark has no current plans to expand beyond 16 schools, he has not ruled out expanding the conference further, as indicated in multiple marketing campaigns.

Yormark’s efforts in elevating the overall experiences of the Big 12 football and basketball championships have been considerably acclaimed, with the implementation of more event-related festivities. He also implemented a first-of-its-kind conference-hosted football pro day, a partnership with the NFL that exclusively showcases Big 12 football talent for scouts.

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“Big 12 commissioner lands three-year extension” was originally posted on The Cougar