Big 12 commish has ambitious goals

In one year, Brett Yormark has made his mark.

When he took the stage on Wednesday at AT&T stadium to kick off 2023 Big 12 Media Days, the Big 12’s newest commissioner had much to unveil.

Big 12 football championship host site set through 2030:

AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas has hosted back-to-back thrilling Big 12 championship games. Both Baylor and Kansas State won their recent conference titles on the game’s final play.

The stadium has a chance to host many more.

“It’s a world-class venue, probably the finest venue in America,” Yormark said. “We have great partnership with AT&T Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys and the entire organization, and it’s kind of nice that we start our season here effectively and end it here.”

The Big 12 has partnered with AT&T Stadium through 2030 to host the championship game.

“In speaking to some of the student-athletes that are here today, this place is very aspirational,” Yormark said. “So doubling down on that partnership, critically important for us and very happy about it.”

Duggan, Joens win new Big 12 award:

Despite stepping down from his role of Big 12 commissioner in 2022, Bob Bowlsby continues to have a strong presence in the conference.

In addition to Yormark thanking Bowlsby multiple times for his advice, Bowlsby now has an award in his name. The Bob Bowlsby award will be given yearly to a male and female Big 12 athlete displaying leadership and excellence on and off the field of competition, it was announced Wednesday.

The Big 12 Board of Directors established the award and named it the Big 12’s most prestigious individual accolade.

TCU quarterback Max Duggan won the award on the men’s side, and Iowa State women’s basketball player Ashley Joens won the women’s award.

Duggan led the Horned Frogs to a football national championship run last season and Joens was the 2022-23 Big 12 Player of the Year.

Big 12 football championship game revamped

Yormark has connections in his former business career with rap icon Jay-Z. It shows.

The Big 12 football championship is getting a boost of entertainment value.

Yormark announced future conference championship games would feature a “major” musical performer at halftime that would be incorporated into the game telecast. In addition, the game will have a Hispanic radio broadcast.

The artist will be announced in conjunction with the August 12 ticket on-sale date.

“Our goal is to connect with Gen-Z,” Yormark said. “We want to get on the consciousness not of just current student-athletes, but future student-athletes, and getting younger is one way to do that, so we’re very excited about our direction.”