The Big 12 announced an international extension in Mexico on Thursday, with upcoming games planned for men’s and women’s basketball, women’s soccer and baseball. The initiative, titled “Big 12 Mexico,” is scheduled to launch in December 2024 with Kansas and Houston match-up at Arena CDMX in Mexico City for men’s and women’s basketball matches. It is scheduled to announce exhibition games that will feature the baseball and women’s soccer teams to be announced against local clubs.
Also on the Big 12’s radar is a potential bowl game in Monterrey, Mexico, starting with the 2026 college football regular season. Estadio BBVA, a 53,500-seat stadium in Monterrey, has been the target venue for any Big 12 football in Mexico seeking The conference is making its mark south of the border, according to The Guardian. Dennis Dodd from CBS Sports.
The bowl game, if realized, would be the first to be held in Mexico. The Bahamas Bowl is the only international game in the current Bowl Season lineup.
“Mexico is a natural extension of the Big 12 footprint, and I’m excited to introduce Big 12 Mexico as the conference’s first-ever international presence,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark he said in a statement. “Through Big 12 Mexico, our student athletes will have the opportunity to compete in an international environment, and our conference will have the opportunity to showcase our brand throughout Mexico.”
The Big 12 plans to partner with Zignia, a live entertainment agency based in Mexico City, to market the convention prior to the sporting events that take place. Among other efforts to increase the international audience, the conference is also seeking to secure Spanish radio broadcasts of both Big 12 football and basketball games starting in the 2023-24 season.
Big 12 Mexico comes as part of a larger effort led by Yormark, who took over as commissioner last summer, to expand the reach of the conference as it prepares to leave flagships Oklahoma and Texas in the summer of 2024. Yormark, who secured Six years, $2.3 billion From the league’s media rights deal with ESPN and Fox Sports through 2031, he’s also overseen initiatives that include plans for a Big 12 professional day in 2024 and a partnership with Rucker Park in New York City that features clinics led by both men and women coaches. 12 major basketball programs.
The national footprint is also expanding Still on Yormark’s radar. The Big 12 is already welcoming four new members – BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF – just in time for the upcoming school year.
“Like I’ve said all along, we have an appetite for being national convention in our makeup from coast to coast,” she says. Yumark told reporters last week After business meetings in the spring. “We like our current configuration, and we like the four new schools that are coming next month. However, if the opportunity presents itself to create value, we will continue to do so.”