Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark says 'digital will play a role' in future TV deal

STILLWATER — New Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is not one for making predictions. But he knows what needs to happen in the future.

The conference needs to be younger and hipper as he said in July, and with that comes contemporizing things. Likely a better digital presence is in line with whatever television deal is reached in the future.

“Not that I have a crystal ball, but as I look forward, digital will play a role in what we do,” Yormark said Tuesday afternoon, “but obviously, you reach younger consumers in a different way today. But being on a big platform that can give you the broad reach that they provide and the cross-marketing and the promotion is critically important.

“For me, there’s a huge future with ESPN and FOX, and if we can complement those two partners with something additive it seems to make sense.”

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Yormark, less than a month officially on the job, continued his two-week tour of eight Big 12 schools on Tuesday. This stop was a day at Oklahoma State, where he sat on a horse, met with administration, toured facilities and got to know longtime football coach Mike Gundy.

He met with a small group of media in the terminal of Stillwater Regional Airport before departing.

And while his visit to OSU was “off the charts,” he spoke of the future of the Big 12.

“I’m excited about our prospects moving forward,” Yormark said. “I love where this conference is going. Got a lot of work. As I said before during media day, I want to contemporize the conference, I want to rebrand, refresh the Big 12 and story tell more than we ever have before.

“I learned so much today about the golf championships, how competitive we are in baseball across the conference. Our story hasn’t really included the breadth and depth of this conference. I mean, you focus on football, obviously, and basketball in some respects, but not the breadth and depth of this conference from top to bottom.

“I think that’s a story that needs to be told.”

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Yormark again reiterated that the Big 12 is “open for business,” as he said during his introduction in July’s media days. He expanded more on that.

It’s not just about conference expansion. It’s rebranding and increasing revenue.

“How do we identify new revenue streams and how do we diversify those revenue streams to complement what we’re going to do in our multimedia rights negotiations?” Yormark said. “It’s about growing the pie and not relying on one part of it, and that’s what I’m truly focused on.”

Yormark also talked glowingly about his trip to OSU, among other topics. Here is a look at several key topics:

Will Yormark visit OU and Texas on his tour?

“My goal is to get to every school over the course of the next probably couple of months, including football season. But these types of visits right now I’ve done the eight existing. That will be completed by Thursday.

“I’ll get to Texas and Oklahoma at some point in time. Pre me, we onboarded BYU and I’ll be going to Cincinnati, UCF and Houston in early September.”

Yormark was pictured on a horse. Had he ever ridden one before?

“I have. That’s why I had no issues about getting on the horse. In fact, I said to them, ‘Can I ride the horse?’ She said, ‘No, no, Brett.’ They were even hesitant with me getting on, but if you saw I got on pretty easy. It was like getting on a bike. That was a highlight for me. It was fantastic.”

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His overall thoughts on his visit to OSU

“The campus is world class when you think about the resources and investments being made. (University president Kayse Shrum’s) leadership is off the charts, an incredible team. Had a chance to spend quite a bit of time with Coach (Mike) Gundy. He was fabulous. Talked more about life, leadership, how he runs his football operations. He’s very inspiring. He’s got a great perspective on things. Obviously, he’s been there for so many years.

“I also had lunch with all the other coaches, which was great. Met with the student-athletes, the SAAC representatives. That was truly inspiring for me, just engaging with the student-athletes, getting to better understand their journeys, where they come from, where they want to go and how Oklahoma State is truly preparing them to be the best version of themselves. That was fantastic for me.”

On valuing input from Gundy, a coach entering his 18th season

“I’m on a listening and learning tour, so when I have a chance to get in front of someone like Coach Gundy who’s a big part of the fabric of college football and I have a chance to listen to him, which I did today, my God, that’s an incredible opportunity for me.

“I like when they talk about their philosophy and leadership and how they manage student-athletes, how they lead in general — the conversation was based around that and I took a lot from it.”

Yormark worked for the Brooklyn Nets and Roc Nation. Had he met OSU men’s basketball coach Mike Boynton, who is from Brooklyn, before Tuesday?

“I hadn’t. It was great because he’s from Brooklyn, gets back to New York quite a bit, very charismatic and I really enjoyed (it). I hosted the coaches for lunch and he was there.”

On replacing longtime Big 12 executive associate commissioner Ed Stewart

“Ed was fantastic. I really wish I had more time to spend with him. But as I’m a firm believer you got to do what’s right for your family. This was the right time for him. He had been with the conference for 16 years and he wanted to get back on campus.

“But we’ve already commenced a search with (TurnkeyZRG). Our candidate pool is off the charts. There’s a lot of interest in leading football for the Big 12. Hopefully in short order we'll identify some top candidates. The process will include getting those candidates meeting with our member institutions — the final two (candidates).”

Jacob Unruh covers college sports for The Oklahoman. You can send your story ideas to him at junruh@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @jacobunruh. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Brett Yormark talks about Big 12 Conference football TV deal strategy