Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark passed on further discussion of the turn of events involving Brendan Sorsby and Texas Tech as media days began Tuesday in Frisco, Texas.
“I appreciate the question,” Yormark said. “Today is not the time to address that issue. Today is about celebrating the upcoming football season and celebrating our 16 schools.”
In the seven months since Sorsby joined Texas Tech as one of the top quarterbacks in the transfer portal, he checked into rehab for gambling addiction, admitted to placing thousands of wagers and was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. Rather than fight the conference or NFL — which denied his application for the supplemental draft — for a chance to play in the fall, Sorsby opted to begin preparing for the 2027 NFL Draft.
Yormark said the Big 12 is expanding its current agreement with IC360, the global advisory and technology platform, to monitor sports betting in collegiate athletics.
After the conference kicked off last season in Ireland with a game between Iowa State and Kansas State, Yormark renewed his commitment to pushing the Big 12 as the “most globally relevant” conference in the country. Six Big 12 schools have international campus sites and Yormark said 20% of student-athletes come from another country.
“I’m convinced we can win globally,” he said.
Yormark also announced that the Big 12 would hold a league-wide meeting in August to address anti-LDS chants directed at BYU.
“We have a zero tolerance for that kind of behavior,” he said.
–Monster Inked
Yormark confirmed a multi-year partnership with Monster Energy to include on-field logos, uniform patches and other branding across multiple sports.
The corporate agreement could bring more than $1 million to all 16 members of the conference in return for ushering in new branding for men’s and women’s basketball. During the upcoming season, conference games will be referenced as “Monster Energy Big XII Football.”
In all, the agreement is worth more than $20 million per year and labels Monster Energy as the Big 12 “entitlement partner.”
