DALLAS (AP) — Brett Yormark, an executive with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and former CEO of the Brooklyn Nets, was named Big 12 commissioner Wednesday, another unconventional hire by a major conference amid the rapidly changing landscape of college athletics.
Yormark is taking over for Bob Bowlsby, who came to the league a decade ago after stints as athletic director at Stanford, Iowa and Northern Iowa.
The background for Yormark isn’t in college athletics, but could play an interesting role for a conference bracing for challenges in revenue with the impending departures of Oklahoma and Texas while adjusting to athletes cashing in on use of their celebrity.