The biggest story of the college football off-season was in the Big 12. And conference commissioner Brett Yormark was not going to get anywhere near the Brendan Sorsby topic as Big 12 Media Days opened in Frisco, Texas, on Tuesday.
Brett Yormark Addresses Topics That Aren’t Brendan Sorsby
The Brendan Sorsby Elephant in the Room
As Yormark opened the two-day-long event, he addressed several topics and questions from the media. It was a given that the first one was going to be about the drama surrounding the would-be Texas Tech quarterback, his gambling issues, and all the legal morass surrounding the issue.
Yormark wasn’t going to take the bait. “Today is not the time to address that issue,” Yormark said when asked about the conference’s handling of the Sorsby chaos. “Today is about celebrating the upcoming football season and celebrating our 16 schools.” With it being clear that he was not going to delve into the topic in any manner, that was the end of the media questions about it.
Congressional Intervention
On the other major topic of the off-season, the US Senate’s Protect College Sports Act legislation, Yormark gave his unfettered support, while admitting that the bill has some things that he would like to see tweaked. “When you go to people and ask for help, you’re not going to get exactly what you want,” Yormark said of his lobbying efforts with Congress. Yormark said that, as of his most recent conversations with two of the bill’s co-sponsors, Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), there was still a lot of negotiating going on as to certain elements of the bill.
“I look at where we have landed right now as progress over perfection,” Yormark said. “Nothing is going to be perfect. But the question is, can we make progress? Are we better off with a bill than without one?”
Yormark highlighted restrictions on agents, changes to the transfer portal, revenue-sharing cap circumvention, and limited liability protection via antitrust exemptions for the NCAA and the conferences as things he favored in the bill. Yormark said he is going back to Capitol Hill next week for further discussions on the particulars. The proposed bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee last month with a 19-9 vote. It is pending a vote of the full Senate, possibly in July.
Finances
Along with the new world of congressional intervention into college sports is the role of outside interests in funding university athletic departments. Yormark addressed the issue of private equity playing a part in the financing and potential ownership of Big 12 athletic departments. “Each conference, each school has to do what’s in their best interest.” He noted that the Big 12 struck a deal with RedBird Capital, which he described as business development as opposed to traditional private equity.
The conference did announce that all schools will have a sponsor patch on their uniforms. The Big 12 has struck a marketing deal with Monster Energy drinks.
Playoff Expansion
The commissioner also discussed where he sees things in terms of the still-unresolved College Football Playoff expansion. He admitted that he was once in favor of expanding from the current 12-team format to 16 teams. But then, after further review, he came out in favor of expanding to 24 teams. But he also said his position is not firm, and it depends on what sacrifices might come to conferences if they expand to 24 teams for the playoff. He said, based on the revenue that is derived from the Big 12 championship game, he would not be in favor of losing that in exchange for a particular expansion number. But he was certain that the Big 12 needs more access to playoff spots.
The conferences have until December 1st to approve a new plan for 2027 and beyond and submit it to the television network partners.
Going to Ask Anyway
There was one question from a reporter that did draw a bit of Yormark’s ire. He had vowed not to address the Sorsby issue. But he was asked why Texas Tech had its tradition of throwing tortillas banned, but Cincinnati, the school Sorsby had previously played for, while gambling, had not faced any conference penalties. Yormark walked down the stage to near where the writer was. He asked the writer to stand up and ask the question again. “I said we’re forward 16-strong [the number of teams in the Big 12] and that’s my answer to your question. Yormark decidedly returned to behind the podium after that.
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