"This Big 12 deal has been in discussions for about six months": CFB insider reveals Brett Yormark's plans to expand revenue sources in 2024

There has been some intriguing news in the world of college sports on Thursday as the Big 12 Conference may not be that going forward. The conference is not collapsing, but instead Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is expected to add a corporate sponsor to its naming rights.

While appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, college football insider Pete Thamel discussed how long a deal has been in the works.

"The (Big 12) deal has been in discussions for about six months, Pat, it would probably get done in the upcoming months. There was some optimism it would be in July. As these big multi-million deals go, it is probably going to drag on a little bit longer than that."

Thamel explained that instead of the Big 12 Conference, it would become the "Brand name" 12 Conference. That differs from popular belief earlier that it would be the Big 12 Conference presented by "brand name." No brands have been linked to the conference as a potential naming right as of this writing.

Why would the Big 12 Conference sell its naming rights?

The Big 12 Conference selling its naming rights may seem strange on the surface but the deeper people go, it begins to make sense why. While the monetary figure has not been officially released as of this writing, this could give the Big 12 Conference significant cash flow right away.

The conference could be thinking that even with a name change, people are going to be associating the conference in the same way, similar to how people still refer to the social media platform "X" by its old name of Twitter.

What this deal would do is give the conference significantly more revenue and become a legitimate contender for conference realignment teams on par with the Southeastern and Big Ten Conferences. The teams associated with the Big 12 Conference are going to see another source of significant revenue if and when this deal becomes official.