Overview
- Yormark announced on Friday that he will resign as Big 12 commissioner effective Jan. 31, 2027 and is expected to take a job outside college athletics.
- The Big 12 Board of Directors said it will launch a national search for his replacement immediately to ensure an orderly transition.
- Yormark is credited with stabilizing the league by negotiating a six-year, $2.28 billion television deal with ESPN and Fox and overseeing the addition of eight schools that created the current 16-team Big 12.
- His exit comes after a contract extension that would have run through the 2029–30 academic year, meaning he is leaving before his agreed term ended.
- The next commissioner will face pressure to close the revenue gap with the Big Ten and SEC and to lead strategy for the conference’s next media-rights negotiations, a change that will directly affect athletic budgets, scheduling and long-term planning for member schools.