BIG 12 CONFERENCE ATHLETICS MEDIA CONFERENCE

March 12, 2024

Quinton Lucas

Kathy Nelson

Raven Jemison

Brett Yormark

Press Conference

and thank you for being here tonight. Participating in today's press conference is Kansas City Mayor, Quinton Lucas; President & CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission and Visit KC, Kathy Nelson; KC Current President, Raven Jemison, and Big 12 Conference Commissioner, Brett Yormark. We will begin the program with opening remarks from each of tonight's speakers starting with Brett.

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: Thank you. It's great to be in Kansas City. I would be remiss if I didn't say I've been thinking about this community a lot lately, and I hope us being back here last week and the continuation this week helps to accelerate the healing process that's going on right now.

Sports unifies people. I hope that that happens here throughout the next couple of days. I'm honored to be on the platform today with three great community leaders here from Kansas City. Kansas City has played a critical role in the history of the Big 12. I'm happy to say tonight that it will continue to play a big role in the Big 12.

I'm thrilled to officially announce that the Big 12 Men's and Women's Basketball Championship will stay right here at T-Mobile and in Kansas City through 2031. I think I said to many of you last time, I came here to the community and met with many of the leaders. It was a real easy decision when I went back to Dallas, that we needed to double down on this community for all the right reasons. You guys have embraced us. It feels like a Super Bowl each time we're here. The fan support is tremendous, the community support is tremendous and we truly look forward to doubling down here in Kansas City and calling this our home for our basketball championships in the near future.

Additionally, I'm excited to announce that the Big 12 Women's Soccer Championship will also be heading to Kansas City and will be played at the brand new CPKC Stadium, home of the KC Current, through 2025. So it's not just about Men's and Women's Basketball, it will be about Women's Soccer, and we're so thrilled that we will be a part of this community and our relationship is growing. And I look forward to being at the KC Current opener this weekend and experiencing that incredible venue that this community has helped to build. I want to thank the community here for their continued support of the Big 12. Speaking on behalf of our member institutions and our entire conference, this is our home away from home.

We're just thrilled to be here. Thank you.

MR. LUCAS: First of all, I am excited to be sitting next to the greatest Commissioner in college athletics, and that's Brett Yormark. We appreciate your cooperation, as well, sir.

It's an amazing time to be in Kansas City, and as we just heard, it is an amazing time to invest in Kansas City. The Big 12 Conference is part of Kansas City's DNA. We all have stories of making our first Big 12, or if we're old enough Big 8 Tournament, here in Kansas City, having a chance to see some of the greatest in men's and women's athletics, not just in basketball but throughout any number of sports, and we're even more excited to continue to share the story of Kansas City. If you look at what Kansas City is about in 2024, I think this is the year of women's sports in Kansas City. This Saturday, having a chance to celebrate the Kansas City Current, their exceptional facility, the fact that they are making history in our country and the world is something that we should not take lightly. Thank you, again, to the Kansas City Current for helping to be part of what is the Kansas City story.

And the Big 12 Conference, making sure that year we saw the women's tournament here at T-Mobile Center. Outstanding host, T-Mobile Center, we thank all of you, and seeing some of the best in basketball and competition here in this tournament speaks not only to the success we have had this year but the success that we expect in future years. It is a great time to be in Kansas City. Kathy Nelson does such a great job. I don't even have to sell that much all the time.

Look forward to more exciting announcements. It is a great time to be in downtown Kansas City. It's a great time to be part of Kansas City. Great events, great venues, good hotels. More and more improvements every year to what we're doing here at T-Mobile Center and beyond and we look forward to not only having a relationship with the Big 12 for several years to come, but certainly I expect for a lifetime.

Thank you to Commissioner Yormark for your investment in Kansas City and continuing to build an outstanding conference with outstanding member institutions, and we look forward to enjoying some basketball later tonight. Thank you all so much.

MS. NELSON: First, I do want to congratulate Iowa State and Texas on an incredible week. Congratulations, and I look forward to watching you play here in just an hour already at the Women's Championship game. And many of you know, like the Mayor mentioned, this is the first time both the Men's and Women's Championship is being held at T-Mobile Center, and it could not come at a better time than during Women's History Month, the opening of our Kansas City Current stadium and all the energy around our pro volleyball team also starting in 2025. And I'm so proud as a female athlete at how Kansas City shows up for women's sports! And this is an exclamation point on that. I've been in the arena the last couple of days, and it is loud and I am proud of how our city has shown up for that.

The Big 12 is such a great part of our future, not only in women's sports but of course in basketball and soccer now. And to put, again, the exclamation point that the Big 12 will be here through 2031 is such a proud moment for all of us. It took us hours with Commissioner Yormark, his staff, with Jay Cooper, our friends at T-Mobile and all of our partners that were involved in the negotiating of this extension, I am so thankful to all of you.

So, Brett, thank you to all of you for doubling down on Kansas City, like you said. We will make you proud. We are proud to host continuing basketball in Kansas City and proud to host soccer upcoming.

MS. JEMISON: Thank you, thank you, and Mayor, I will say that you all have done a phenomenal job of selling Kansas City. That is why I am here. I've been here, just finished my fourth week, and I am unbelievably proud to be a part of this community and we are thrilled to partner with the Big 12 to bring the Big 12 Women's Soccer Tournament here to CPKC Stadium. And it really feeds into the vision and turning this vision into a reality. So if you've heard about CPKC Stadium, what we are doing for the first ever purpose-built women's soccer stadium in the entire world, makes this a great partnership to bring Big 12 Women's Soccer here in 2024 and 2025, and we excited to show and showcase what it means to have an elevated facility so these women athletes get the proper treatment they deserve and see what is possible with respect to having facilities built specifically for them, and we cannot wait to host them in '24 and '25. And we cannot wait to showcase to the world what it means to be a part of this community and home to the Kansas City -- not only Kansas City, but also the Big 12 Women's Soccer Tournament.

So, thank you, Commissioner Yormark, for trusting us with the Women's Soccer Tournament this year and next year and we cannot wait. Thank you so much.

Q. Commissioner, what makes the relationship between this conference and this city so special that you felt like you needed to continue this relationship for this extension of four or five years?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: I just think it's how the community has embraced us, candidly. As I said earlier, I came here for the first time last year. I sensed the level of fandom. I sensed the support, the engagement, how the community really rallied around the Big 12 and our member institutions and it felt like my home away from home.

We decided to double down for all the right reasons and we're thrilled to be here through '31, and I'm sure we will be here much longer than that. It came together for the right reasons at the right time.

Again, I want to thank Kathy and the Mayor for all their support, for making it happen. I want to thank this great building. T-Mobile is a world class venue and they came to us and offered us everything we needed to make this a viable place and a viable home moving forward so we could give our fans a great experience. It all came together and we're thrilled it did.

Q. Brett, you've got four new teams coming in next year from the west and there are other options for venues in that part of the country. I wonder what your conversations have been like with those schools that might be interested in moving it around, the basketball.

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: Well, we are a national conference now. We're in 10 states, four time zones, we have 90 million people in our footprint. We've got a lot of optionality out there where we could take our championships, but when it comes to Men and Women's Basketball and Women's Soccer, this needed to be our home. We are going to football media day in Vegas, which we're excited about. We announced that last month, and there will be other opportunities for us to move closer to that footprint, but we needed to be here in Kansas City and I'm happy we were able to make it work.

Q. Raven, is this the first non Current event scheduled for the new stadium?

MS. JEMISON: That's right. The first major event will take place, and it's fitting, obviously, that it's the Big 12, but that will take place in the fall. So yes, it's exactly why CPKC Stadium is more than just the home for Kansas City Current, but it was specifically designed for this. So yes, this will be the first event.

Q. Mayor, Kathy, Kansas City has a lot going on. This is great news. Big 12, we do this very well. A lot may be happening through 2031, new stadium possibly in the crossroads for the Royals. Talk about how the city will be able to navigate that with parking and people coming downtown, all of the above.

MR. LUCAS: First of all, I may take this because I know whatever we throw the way of the Sports Commission and Visit KC they can handle exceptionally well. We have seen major events come into our city, Planet Comicon last week, which is a huge one, too. And all these activities, Big 12 Championship and, frankly, Kansas City and downtown have handled it well. I am a believer in downtown. Downtown in Kansas City and downtowns all around the country. People like to be in good venues and exciting areas to see other people. So Kansas City will be ready.

In terms of any votes that are coming up, here is the thing: First, we want to make sure that we listen to what the voters have to say as to the direction for professional sports and college and amateur sports in Kansas City. We're excited to hear from them on that. No matter what happens, Kansas City will be ready to support these venues, from a marketing perspective -- that's a lot of the work that Ms. Nelson does -- from an infrastructure perspective. We recognize that parking and other issues are an important part of what we do, and fundamentally from a transportation perspective. One thing that I think helps our pitch is that we have the streetcar expanding from the River Market to the Plaza. Soon enough, you will be able to get from a KC Current game to Brush Creek in Kansas City, activating thousands more hotel rooms, thousands more activities, restaurants and beyond. So this isn't just a pitch for today, but it's a pitch for the future. I look forward to more conversations, hopefully that we're sharing with the Commissioner, about east-west connections for our streetcar to other parts of the city, including the stadium complex now.

This is a time where I think Kansas City is on the rise. We are a city that continues to get outstanding attention. Nobody really cares as much about this as I do, but the United States Conference of Mayors will be here this summer. There is like one person who claps, but nonetheless, right, we are getting attention from business, sports, entertainment, the biggest concerts. This is a time to be in Kansas City. No matter what we are seeing in terms of volume in downtown Kansas City, I know we can handle it.

MS. NELSON: When you think of this year's Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, it's $32 million in terms of economic activity and economic impact. There is not much that compares to that. When you think of $32 million over a two-week period, that continues to help our tax base, our infrastructure. It helps projects that the Mayor and the City Manager are working on. Beyond that, it's a lot of education. As we become a robust city and its bigger events, it's learning more. How do we do this? Where do you park? I live on the Park KC parking app. I buy my parking before I come downtown and I know exactly where I'm parking. That's an education piece for us to continue to do and hosting bigger events like this and more and more events allow us to do so.

Q. For Kathy, there was a rumor about having a professional basketball team, women or men's. Is that a topic on the table for you guys or not anymore?

MS. NELSON: We are always working on something. I will leave it at that. Is that a good way to dance around that?

MR. LUCAS: Great answer. She is ready to be the Mayor.

MS. NELSON: No!

THE MODERATOR: Thank you all so much.

Questions for Commissioner Yormark. Commissioner?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: I want to congratulate Texas and Iowa State for making tonight's Women's Championship game. It's going to be a heck of a game, looking forward to it, expecting a great crowd, should be a lot of fun here for the community.

When I took this job, one of the priorities was more equity for our Women's Basketball programs. Moving their championship to a world class venue, T-Mobile, for the first time ever was a big step in that direction. It's been a great week here and it will culminate with a great game again this evening. Fans have been incredibly supportive, in fact we have set some attendance records and the crowds have been great and we expect a great crowd this evening. Our Women's Basketball has been great all year long. I think we deserve seven teams in the tournament. We will see what happens, but I am confident we are one of the deepest leagues in the country. The Big 12 is the only conference in Women's Basketball with all teams in the Top 100 of the net rankings. Just like our men's, Big 12 Women's Basketball will even get better next year with the addition of the Four Corner schools.

On the men's front, what can I say? Just another year in the best conference in basketball. We have led the nation in conference net ranking every week this season.

We are the top conference in the KenPom AP, whatever acronym you want to use, we've been number one. We have the best winning percentage of any league. Off the court, we are going to be introducing some great marketing and fan enhancements for this year's championship. Like football, our championship games will be streamed live in Times Square, starting with tonight's women's championship. As you see in front of me the WWE partnership continues. This title belt will be presented to the most outstanding players of each championship game. Shaq is also making his return this weekend, performing at Power and Light after the men's championship. We have also introduced nearly 400 new premium seats and two new premium club areas for this championship and more to come next year.

When the first-ever 16 team Big 12 Basketball Championship tips off in 2025, we will also be introducing our basketball all-access pass. You probably read about it last week. That will give fans the ability to purchase the same seat location at T-Mobile through 2031. I would like to thank, again, T-Mobile Center. It's an incredible venue and they've been a wonderful partner.

My expectation is that we will at least have nine men's teams in this year's tournament with the potential for as many as 11. This is the best conference in basketball. If the NCAA is considering any changes to the tournament, we need a seat at the table for any decisions that are being made.

A regular season in Big 12 is a grind. It's much different than a regular season in most conferences in America. As ESPN has said often throughout this year, every night in this league is like a tournament game. Looking forward to March Madness, it's one of the best spectacles in sports, and we will be following our men's and women's teams around the country. I want to thank all of you for your support of the Big 12. You have been fair and very appropriate in your coverage and I really appreciate that. With that being said, I'm willing to take any questions.

Q. Brett, it's been an unusual year. You know, the four new schools you referenced are coming next year. Texas and OU still in the conference almost in a lame duck situation. What's been the most challenging aspect of having -- dealing with Texas and OU, knowing they're not part of the future? What has been the biggest challenge this season with that?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: There have been no challenges. Texas and Oklahoma, great contributors to the conference, been here since day one. They're finishing strong, obviously, and when the time comes, we will wish them well. We wish them good luck in the SEC, but as I've stated before there is no better time to be a part of this conference than right now. Our future is extremely bright, bullish in our future. The Four Corner obviously will be joining us. We'll be a 16-team league for the first time. We've gotten stronger in football, basketball and Olympic sports. Life in the Big 12 has been great. No challenges this year. It's been seamless as we have begun to integrate the Four Corner. And in many respects celebrate the contributions of both Texas and Oklahoma and what they have meant to this conference for so long.

Q. Brett, first, have you started discussions about the configuration of next year's tournament with 16 teams? Over the last two years you have asked for improvements and you've got them here at the arena. Is there a next step for you to go to in terms of making this the kind of experience you want to make it for Big 12 fans?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: Great question. All 16 teams will compete in both the men's and women's tournament, greater specificity we will give you later, but they will all compete. As it relates to the building, there were numerous upgrades made for this year, and next year we anticipate more to come. Our goal is to provide a world class experience for our fans. I think they're getting it. As part of that experience we wanted to elevate the premium experience. As I said earlier, we have added over 400 premium seats for this year's men's championship and more to come next year.

Q. There are reports that CFP leadership is nearing a decision on revenue distribution and governance by the end of this week; is that accurate? Any details you might be able to share?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: I want to keep it focused on basketball, but there have been ongoing conversations with respect to the next iteration of the CFP. I think it's fair we are making progress. We have had a lot of tough conversations. I'm looking forward to concluding those conversations and moving forward in the most appropriate fashion. Nothing is definitive yet. Like I said, it's a work in progress, and I think we will get there. I'm confident we will.

Q. Brett, where does the conference stand on bracket expansion? Does that help the Big 12 in basketball?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: Well, listen, I read what you read. From what I've been told, and what I'm reading, it looks like there could be some modest expansion. I think 76 is a number that has been floated out there. I've been in touch with Charlie Baker and others at the NCAA to get an understanding of how they're thinking about it. The data shows if you expand it to 76 the Power Four conferences will benefit mostly, and at the center of that will be the Big 12. I'm all about access.

Listen we have the deepest conference in America. As I said earlier, we have nine teams definitely will be in, arguably we could get up to 11. More access is great for us. We will see what unfolds.

Q. You talked about the emphasis about growing the Big 12 brand abroad and internationally. What can you encourage schools to do to grow the Big 12's brand internationally and the schools individually?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: Listen, I'm a brand guy at heart, and I think we have an opportunity to grow the profile brand and narrative of the Big 12. I think we create a halo affect for all our member institutions. We are going to Mexico City, which I'm extremely excited about. It's our first foray into the international marketplace; Kansas and Houston will be going, both men's and women's.

Mexico City is a great extension to our geographic footprint, so it makes sense for us to go there, and it is part of building our brand intentionally, in fact we're going to Mexico City this week. We're excited about that, about that program, and there is probably more to come.

Q. How big can this conference really get? Second question, we used to get a lot of sports and teams to go to, is there time you have to yourself? What do you do during that time?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: Regarding the question of could we go beyond 16? Listen, I mean, who knows? Right now I love the make-up and composition of this conference. In fact, I love it. As many of you know, I've discussed it before, the Four Corner schools was the best case scenario for us, and they will be joining us next summer, so we have a lot of work to integrate those four and transition them in the right way. Who knows what the future will hold.

I really love the make-up of our conference right now. And as it relates to my personal time, I love what I do. I love this job. It's probably one of the most favorite positions I've ever had professionally. I love the diversification, I love to get out to see all the different events and mingle with our key stakeholders, student-athletes, so in some cases I don't look at it as work. I enjoy it. In those free moments I like to run, I like to workout, eat healthy, life is good.

Q. Brett, seemed like there was more animosity at Big 12 officials this year. I know that's kind of the case every year. It did seem like there was more anger than usual. Is there anything that can happen to improve the experience for everyone involved?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: At the end of the season we put everything through an audit to see where we can be better as a conference, and we will go through that process right now. Obviously I've gone to a lot of games this year and there has been obviously some issues along the way, but I think we have managed them accordingly, and I think every year you're going to have those issues that come up. The question is, is there an opportunity for us to get better and manage them differently? I don't know the answer to that just yet, but we will go through that exercise and see where we end up.

Q. Brett, you mentioned earlier this week that there was a 100% increase in women's viewership. What was the increase in the men's side? And then in the future, in the next media rights who will be the main television network of this Big 12 Conference in the future?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: Men were up 8%, only Power Four conference to show an increase year-over-year. As I said, earlier, women were over 100%. ESPN will be our partner for this conference and our championship, men's and women's basketball, not only this year and next year but into the new TV deal as well.

Q. The league is obviously a gauntlet. I've heard opposing coaches and other conferences complain a bit that the nonconference might be a little weak. That the teams have set up their tournament scenarios with a weaker nonconference. Is that just sour grapes?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: You know what that is? That's noise. You've got to tune out the noise. I look at that as all noise, and if you follow the data, again, I said earlier, best nonconference schedule or record of any conference. We've ranked at the top of every metric possible. So to me that's just noise. We are the number one conference in America, we've shown that for many, many, many years. We only get stronger next year when the Four Corner come in, both men's and women's, so that's what I'm focused on.

Q. Brett, Vic Schaefer said he thanked you after the game last night for moving the tournament over here. Curious what the early returns have been in moving buildings?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: Feedback has been great. I can't take credit for that. That was the vision that Bob Bowlsby had, and others at the Big 12 Conference; I just executed it this year. But it was the perfect vision, came at the right time, it was very appropriate, probably should have happened earlier. But in speaking to the student-athletes, coaches, fans, they all love being here. It's got a big-time feel to it, and the experience is obviously very different. And tonight you're going to see what it feels like for a championship game to be hosted here for our women's championship.

Q. Brett, the women's semifinals were on a Monday afternoon yesterday. Is there a thought of moving that into prime time or will that be a discussion with the TV partner, ESPN?

COMMISSIONER YORMARK: We always strive to be better. We will evaluate and see what happens. I was surprised by the attendance; I thought it was quite good. I think tonight is going to be fantastic. Saturday we set an attendance record for our event. We will assess what we need to do differently moving forward and if there is a chance to get better we will.

THE MODERATOR: All right. That concludes this evening's session. Thank you, everyone, for joining us.