The Big 12 has historically been a Dallas and Kansas City-based conference. Whether it is the Big 12 Championship game in football or basketball or media days for either of those two sports, it has always been in either Dallas or Kansas City.
This has made a lot of sense, considering both of these cities are somewhat in the middle of the conference. But if there is one thing we’ve learned under Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, it’s that when it comes to his decisions, things don’t always make sense.
This morning, it was announced that the Big 12 would be moving its Big 12 Media Days from Dallas to a city that is further west than any school in the entire conference: Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Actually Makes a Ton of Sense Financially
Media Days are, for the most part, for the media. It isn’t a public event, and quite honestly, outside of the most avid fans, there aren’t a lot of headlines that really make it out of these meetings. They are, for the most part, a formality that is necessary but often uneventful.
The reason Las Vegas makes a lot of sense is that media members are going to be flying in from Morgantown, Provo, Orlando, Manhattan, and other cities, and guess which city is the cheapest and easiest to find a flight to? If you guessed Las Vegas, you’re right. Sure, for some media members, Dallas would obviously be the cheaper option (TCU, Baylor), but for most of the conference, it is actually cheaper to get to Sin City than Dallas, and definitely Kansas City.
Big 12 Football Media Days is going down in the desert. pic.twitter.com/Jaa7ibPbU2
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) February 19, 2024
Expanding the Big 12 Footprint
This is completely speculative, but Brett Yormark is all about the footprint, and UNLV is prime soil for getting some new fans. UNLV is the local team in the area, obviously, but with them playing the Mountain West, many fans may be looking for a second team to follow. Essentially, it will come down to the Big 12 or the Big 10. Localish schools from the Big 10 include USC and UCLA, while BYU and Arizona are about the same distance from the Big 12.
The Big 12 appears to have a slight upper hand, considering the Big 10 is still seen as a Northeast Conference, while the Big 12 is more local, but by having an event in Las Vegas, Brett Yormark is staking a big (literally) Big 12 flag in Las Vegas and claiming it as Big 12 country. This can come in useful later if UNLV ever did become an attractive addition or if the P4 became a new league completely (not under the NCAA) and fans wanted to be fans of the top level of football.
Aside from just this event, the Big 12 has not been shy about hosting events in areas not considered Big 12 country. The Swim and Dive finals will be taking place in Washington. The Big 12 is planning on hosting various events in Mexico next year. Last summer, they held a basketball event in Harlem. It seems like the Big 12 is making a play to be a conference for the average fan anywhere that doesn’t already have a team, and in today’s competitive market, it could really pay off.
Conclusion
Many old Big 12 fans will not be happy about the conference holding an event away from the traditional footprint of the conference, and perhaps Brett Yormark is catering to the new members of the conference. While there may be a valid argument to this, when peeling back the layers, the move is clearly a good move that has a lot of upside and potential to pay dividends in the future.