STILLWATER – Brett Yormark will make his first public appearance as the new Big 12 Commissioner this coming Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. CT to kick off Big 12 Media Days at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.
A lot has been made of Yormark the past few weeks since being named the fifth commissioner in conference history. While not many people outside the entertainment and sports media industry have heard of Yormark, he’s been a rather influential person in the sports industry.
The entire Pokes Report crew works for Triple Play Sports Radio here in Stillwater, a partnership which affords us some rather unique opportunities. Long-time Oklahoma State media member Tom Dirato is a staple at TPS and runs a weekly show called Where Are They Now, a show that profiles former Oklahoma State athletes, or people who were involved in Oklahoma State athletics in some form or fashion over the decades. From time to time, Tom interviews his brother Chris, who’s spent decades in the sports world in media relations.
Related: More updates on Oklahoma State’s ability to compete via TV numbers
This past week’s interview with Chris revolved around new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and his ability to run the conference effectively. While not many people had heard of Yormark prior to his introduction as the new Big 12 commish, he’s been involved in some mega-deals in the sports world over the years.
“In my corporate days at Mercedes-Benz of North America, a very young 21-year-old account executive in the sales department with the New Jersey Nets came to Mercedes and I sat in on a meeting with a group of folks and he was pitching the upstart New Jersey Nets playing in their new arena at the Meadowlands,” Chris Dirato said on TPS. “Of course, sponsorship was the major topic of that time, but he was very impressive. My recollection is that he was able to sell a package to Mercedes at that time, which was pretty impressive for someone of his age and experience level.”
In between stints with the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, Yormark spent a period of time working in NASCAR. A period in which he negotiated a $750 million deal with Nextel to become the title sponsor of the Cup Series.
“R.J. Reynolds, the tobacco company that produced Winston cigarettes for years, sponsored what was then the Winston Cup Series,” said Dirato. “Everybody thought that would never go away; the money was going to continue to flow, and the Cup Series would flourish continuously. But low and behold the government stepped in tobacco advertising and marketing dollars and RJR suddenly went away and NASCAR was left with an open door trying to lure a title sponsor. Brett Yormark has been credited with, in essence, saving the Series in the sense that he was able to lure Nextel Communications to become the title sponsor at a very lofty sponsorship price.”
However, that wasn’t the only Yormark deal NASCAR benefited from.
“He also put together something that kind of went a little unnoticed, being able to sign up Sunoco as the official fuel for NASCAR. So, he put together probably two of the more lucrative deals for NASCAR when he was there.
“He also kind of introduced NASCAR to Madison Avenue. He helped open up a New York City office, which NASCAR never had, which kind of opened doors on Madison Avenue for NASCAR to approach corporations and folks. His stay [with NASCAR] was brief, but it was very productive. I think if you ask anybody in the NASCAR community, even today, Brett Yormark’s name will be spoken of in a positive light.”
Yes, the future of college football is on some rather uncertain grounds right now in terms of conference stability. However, as we all know, all the moves college football is currently making is based on money. It’s now rather apparent Brett Yormark knows how to market and sell a sustainable product and bring a large influx of cash and popularity to an existing product.
