Brett Yormark leaving Big 12 after January for new job
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is leaving the conference after January 2027 for a job outside college sports, ESPN reported Friday. Board chair Doug Girod said Yormark sought an “elegant exit,” and the league will launch a national search for its next leader. Fans tracking media rights and conference TV packages can follow related updates in our Streaming & TV Alerts hub.
Key Takeaways
- Brett Yormark will remain Big 12 commissioner through January 2027 to aid a smooth transition.
- He approached league leaders about leaving nearly 10 days ago; the board formalized terms Friday.
- His next role is outside college sports and has not yet been publicly detailed.
- Girod credited Yormark’s early TV-deal push with ESPN and FOX as central to the conference’s stability.
- The Big 12 will run a national search for its sixth commissioner.
Why is Brett Yormark leaving the Big 12?
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Yormark made the call himself as he prepares for another job outside college athletics. Kansas chancellor Doug Girod, chair of the Big 12 board of directors, told ESPN that Yormark came to leadership nearly 10 days ago with a plan for what Girod called an “elegant exit.”
The board voted Friday morning to finalize departure terms. Girod framed the choice simply: Yormark believed he had “one good run left” and had to decide whether to take it with the Big 12 or elsewhere. Yahoo Sports, citing the same ESPN reporting, said he is expected to announce his next sports venture soon.
How long will Yormark stay, and what comes next for the league?
Yormark plans to stay through January 2027 so the conference can hand off cleanly after the 2026 football season. He is the Big 12’s fifth commissioner. Officials will open a national search for a sixth.
Girod said he is open-minded about a successor and does not need “a [Yormark] twin.” He wants an innovator—ideally with campus experience—who can push revenue diversification and help the league think differently about how it operates.
The timing is notable because the Big 12 extended Yormark’s contract through 2030 in May 2025. That means the exit is a negotiated departure from a deal that still had years left, not the end of a short-term appointment.
What did Yormark change for Big 12 TV and realignment?
Yormark became commissioner in 2022, succeeding Bob Bowlsby roughly a year after Oklahoma and Texas voted to leave for the SEC. He arrived without a traditional college-athletics résumé. Girod said the board wanted someone who could innovate and build brands, not a former athletic director by default.
His signature move, per ESPN, was convincing Big 12 leaders to exercise an option and redo the conference television deal early. The league landed a strong pact with ESPN and FOX and outflanked the Pac-12. Girod told ESPN that without that early media reset, leaders believe the Big 12 could have ended up like the Pac-12—unable to secure a TV deal.
Girod also praised Yormark’s work integrating eight schools with the legacy group. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF joined before his hire; Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah were added in 2023 under his watch. Girod summed up the tenure bluntly: “He’s been really good for us.”
What should fans and media watchers track now?
The immediate questions are who replaces Yormark and how the Big 12 protects its media footing after a commissioner defined by TV strategy. Until a successor is named, Yormark remains in place through January, giving the board time to run a search while the football calendar wraps.
For viewers, the ESPN/FOX rights framework Yormark helped lock in remains the clearest through-line of his legacy—and the biggest reason this exit lands in the streaming and TV conversation as much as the coaching carousel.