Big 12 to sign multi-year deal to play in Mexico in 2024

Estadio BBVA – CC BY-SA

Sources have told CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd that the college athletic conference, more popularly known as the Big 12, plans to enter a multi-year deal to schedule regular-season football and men’s basketball games in Mexico starting in 2024.

Several reports indicate that the Big 12 is interested in using the 53,500-seat Estadio BBVA in Monterrey as their primary location for football games. Meanwhile, the 22,300-seat Arena CDMX in Mexico City is being assessed as a potential venue for basketball games.

Dodd reported that even though Kansas and the newest member of the Big 12, the Houston Cougars, have been singled out as a favored pairing for Mexico City, no specific teams or dates have been settled upon yet.

The Big 12 is set to make an official announcement on Wednesday, with conference spring meetings taking place in Scottsdale, Arizona, this week. There are also plans to add women’s basketball, soccer and baseball.

Striving for international success

A league insider reported that the Big 12’s Commissioner Brett Yormark had been encouraged by the favorable results of MLB, NFL and NBA games held in Mexico.

The source told Dodd that Yormark wants to “emulate the success of pro sports teams,” which would require a more prolonged, multi-year stay rather than “a weekend one-off.”

Since he took over from Bob Bowlsby in 2022, the Big 12 has been making efforts to expand its reach. As part of these efforts, the Big 12 will team up with the NFL to hold a conference-wide Big 12 Pro Day at The Star in Frisco, Texas, in March 2024. This event has been designed to give Big 12 athletes more exposure than the conventional on-campus pro days.

As quoted by the Houston Chronicle, Yormark said the conference aspires to have a “truly national conference from a brand perspective” and a “geographic footprint” across the nation.

During his first year as commissioner, Yormark has been facing some significant changes regarding the membership of the Big 12. After the upcoming season, the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners teams will leave for the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

Meanwhile, four teams — BYU Cougars, Cincinnati Bearcats, Houston and UCF Knights — will join the Big 12 in the future.