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Brett Yormark says Las Vegas is 'critically important' to the Big 12's brand. Can it work?
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- Brett Yormark says Las Vegas is 'critically important' to the Big 12's brand. Can it work?
Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark declared Tuesday that the conference is still open for business.
With the topic of realignment having subsided a bit, Yormark, now two full years into his gig leading the conference, opened the league's media day from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas saying the Big 12 will continue to look at other ways to enhance its brand beyond what it is today.
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One of the central components of Yormark's realignment moves was to establish the Big 12 in as many areas of the country as possible. With the additions of Houston, BYU, UCF and Cincinnati last year, plus scooping up Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State in the wake of the Pac-12's demise, the Big 12 is now in four different time zones, and Yormark isn't quite done wheeling and dealing.
MEDIA DAYS: Brett Yormark declares Big 12 football 'will be the deepest conference in America'
Speaking on moving media days to Las Vegas — scheduling conflicts prevented the Big 12 from hosting in the Dallas/Arlington area as usual — Yormark said he had been stopped "at least a dozen times" by attending players thanking him for putting on this year's event in Sin City.
"In many respects," Yormark said, "it's their first time here. That's part of the puzzle also. That's what we have to deliver, a great experience for our student-athletes. We're doing that here during Media Day, and we'll be very thoughtful about the future, making sure we're not inconveniencing people."
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Las Vegas could become a bigger piece of the Big 12 puzzle beyond this week's festivities. Yormark said he wanted to move the conference toward Vegas even before the last round of realignment put the Big 12 further west.
"This is the entertainment and sports capital of the world now," Yormark said. "It's incredibly important to our brand and business, and we'll continue to explore opportunities to take some of our tent-pole events, champion events more to the West Coast if the opportunity presents itself and if it makes sense."
What Yormark's ambitions for Las Vegas are after this week remain to be seen, and it likely won't include many championships for the foreseeable future.
The men's and women's basketball tournaments will remain in Kansas City through 2031 while the football title game will continue to emanate from AT&T Stadium in Arlington through 2030. Globe Life Field in Arlington is slated to host the conference baseball tournament until 2028.
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Yormark added that as things move along with the revamped outlook of college athletics, which will soon include schools being able to pay players directly through the settlement in the House vs. NCAA case, creativity will be key in staying ahead of the curve.
"This is no time to press pause," Yormark said. "We must continue to be bold and aggressive as an industry. The Big 12 will always be ambitious because that's who we are. I know there's a lot of pressure on a lot of people right now, but I will leave you with this: Pressure is a privilege."
Jul 9, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
Big 12 strikes deal with Microsoft for tablets on sidelines, coaching booths for football
While the expansion further into Las Vegas is still up in the air, the Big 12 did announce a first-of-its-kind deal on Tuesday.
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Microsoft will be provided tablets to each Big 12 football program for the 2024 season, the conference being the first to enter into such a deal with the technology giant. According to the release, "tablets will be available for usage on the sideline and in the coaching booth, allowing players and coaches access to video review in-game."
"We look forward to bringing our joint expertise together to evolve the game," Gabe Rudolph, senior manager of sports partnerships at Microsoft said in the release, "and further empower student-athletes and coaches."
The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved the use of tables earlier this year. Teams are able to have up to 18 tablets active at any time and the devices cannot be connected to other devices to project larger images. They also can't include analytics, data or data access capability.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Can Las Vegas become a key brand component of the Big 12 Conference?
