The old ways of college football are gone. Realignment is the new norm and NIL means players are getting paid (legally) real dollars. While the Big 12 was at the epicenter of college football’s realignment, it appears as if change is the only thing that is likely to remain constant within not just the Big 12, but college football as a whole.
Brett Yormark Implicates Constant Change in College Football
“The industry needs to forget about where we’ve been and think about where we’re heading,” Yormark stated during Big 12 Media Days. “Make sure we need to make the necessary adjustments.”
Strong words from Yormark emphasized the fact that realignment, NIL, and the trasfner portal aren’t just the only facets that are changing within collegiate athletics. In fact, it’s time, as Yormark said, to make sure all the adjustments are in place as further change is coming for the sport.
What did Yormark mean when he said that? It’s simple, really, and he outlined it quite plainly during Big 12 Media Days.
“We’re exploring naming rights, we’re going to determine if that makes sense or not,” Yormark said. “We’re looking into private equity, does that make sense or not.”
“I love what the NBA did with Emirates, and I think we have an opportunity to do the same thing here to create value.”
The latter part indicates a potential partnership with an airline to help facilitate flights around the country now that the Big 12 is a 16-team league with a heavy foothold across even more states in 2024 and beyond.
While change has seemingly been constant in the world of college football, most will be unwilling to bend to the realms of what Yormark indicated for one main reason: it too closely resembles a professional sport with such things as naming rights, private equity, and sponsorships.
Why, some ask, why make all these changes? While it may be speculation, it’s really quite simple nowadays: You can be the Big 12 and be the first to change, or you can be like the Pac-12 and be last to change. We have seen what happened there.
For Yormark and the Big 12, though, it’s about bettering the student-athletes, the coaches, the programs, and the product on the field or in the gym that we see week in and week out.
“We’re going to explore every and all possibility to strengthen this conference,” Yormark said. “From a brand perspective, from a performance perspective, from a business perspective. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
But in reality, haven’t we been headed this way for a long time now?
Fans of the sport are best to jump on board with the change, embrace the chaos, and ensure that the leaders are put in place to make the right decisions for our sport, the student-athletes, and the fans who love their Saturdays in the fall.
Yormark himself said he understood that, and he’s ready to embrace that change with the leaders in the collegiate atmosphere attacking that in the landmark House vs. NCAA case.
“There’s a lot of steps we have to take,” Yormark said about building the framework for House vs. NCAA. “The framework of a deal is right there. That framework was put together by the leaders in collegiate athletics. We’ve shown great collaboration.”
KEEP READING: Big Commissioner Brett Yormark Says Conference Is ‘Still Open for Business’
Big 12 Media Days continued to hone in on change in college football, this time looking fans directly in the face and saying they’re not steering away from it.
Perhaps it’s best we do the same.
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