Brett Yormark wants Las Vegas to become a ‘critically important’ city for the Big 12

The Big 12 footprint doesn’t stretch far enough West to give the conference a permanent foothold in Sin City, but Brett Yormark would like for that to change.

No, the Big 12 commissioner isn’t looking to add UNLV to the league anytime soon. Rather, he wants to bring Big 12 teams and events here to Las Vegas on a regular basis.

Talking season got underway on Tuesday in Las Vegas when the Big 12 began its annual media event at Allegiant Stadium, and Yormark is hopeful that it was the beginning of a long-term relationship with the city.

“Being in Vegas is critically important to us,” Yormark said. “Even before last year’s realignment, I said that we had to be in Vegas and a little bit more west. This is the entertainment and sports capital of the world right now. So being here is critically important for our brand and our business. We will continue to explore opportunities to take some of our tent-pole events or championship events more to the West Coast if the opportunity presents itself.”

That could mean a wide variety of things for both the Big 12 and Las Vegas.

The Big 12 has long-term contracts with AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for its football championship game. Same for T-Mobile Center in Kansas City for the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

But just about everything else is on the table.

It sounds like the Big 12 is already eyeing a new partnership with the Las Vegas Bowl, which is looking for new teams now that its affiliation with the Pac-12 is coming to an end.

“I’m confident at the right time we will have a formal affiliation with the Las Vegas Bowl,” Yormark said. “This market is critically important. We are working on that, but I’m very comfortable and confident in what that outcome will bring for our conference. We need to be here in Vegas for all the right reasons.”

If things go well there, perhaps Las Vegas could host other important Big 12 events down the road.

One thing is for sure: Media Days is unlikely to be the last thing that the Big 12 brings to Nevada.