Brett Yormark Will Step Down as Big 12 Commissioner After Remaking the League

By The Arena Staff

IRVING, Texas, Oct. 30, 2026 — Brett Yormark arrived at the Big 12 as an outsider at the moment the conference seemed most likely to come apart. He is leaving it with 16 members and a search for his replacement already underway.

The Big 12 announced Friday that Yormark will step down as commissioner effective Jan. 31, 2027. The conference's board of directors will lead a national search for his successor that begins immediately.

"Serving as the commissioner of the Big 12 Conference has been an extraordinary honor," Yormark said in the conference's announcement. "The next commissioner of this league will inherit a conference that is '16 Strong.' There has never been a better time to be a member of the Big 12 than right now."

Yormark, the league's fifth commissioner, took over in 2022 with no background in college athletics. CBS Sports noted that he came straight from his job as CEO of Roc Nation and had also worked in NASCAR and with the Brooklyn Nets.

He took the job as the Big 12 was absorbing the departures of Texas and Oklahoma. During his tenure the conference brought in eight new members, and CBS Sports reported that Yormark moved first in the last round of television talks, reaching terms with ESPN and Fox, then courted Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State away from the Pac-12, a push that helped lead to that conference's collapse.

He also chased new money in less traditional ways. CBS Sports pointed to the Monster Energy naming rights deal for the league's football and basketball and the live music halftime show added to the Big 12 Championship Game. Not every idea landed, the outlet noted, including his repeated talk of international games.

Kansas Chancellor Douglas A. Girod, who chairs the Big 12 board, said in the announcement that the conference was "at a crossroads" when Yormark arrived and that his "vision, business acumen, and confidence put us on the path we find ourselves on today."

Girod told ESPN, as quoted by CBS Sports, that he is not looking for a copy of Yormark. "I need someone who hopefully has some experience with campuses, and mostly is going to be an innovator," he said.

Whoever gets the job will take over heading into the back half of the league's television contract, with more realignment expected before that deal comes up again in 2031, according to CBS Sports.

Sources: Big 12 Conference and CBS Sports.