Big 12 hires Translation as it seeks creative firepower amid college conference upheaval

The Big 12 is bolstering its agency roster as it tries to sharpen its identity amid upheaval inside college sports conferences. Translation has been hired to lead creative and strategy and will work alongside the Big 12’s incumbent agency, LDWW.

The hiring gives Brooklyn-based Translation a significant foothold in college sports, after years of experience with pro sports leagues and teams, including the NBA and Brooklyn Nets. The hiring was orchestrated by Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, who joined the conference on Aug. 1 after stints as chief operating officer at Roc Nation and CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment Global, the parent company of Barclays Center and Brooklyn Nets. Yormark said he is familiar with Translation and its CEO Steve Stoute from when the agency worked for the Nets. 

“We needed to add some creative firepower,” Yormark said in an interview. “I felt there was none better than Steve, personally, and his agency to accomplish some of the things that we want to do—which is to contemporize, modernize, connect with youth culture, and most importantly, to put our brand and our conference on the consciousness of future student-athletes.” 

He suggested the conference would lean more into music and influencer marketing. 

The Big 12's big shakeup

The Big 12 is changing its marketing tactics as it prepares to deal with the pending departures of two of its biggest brands, the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma, which are leaving for the SEC. Their current exit date is July 1, 2025. The Big 12 is adding the University of Houston, University of Cincinnati, University of Central Florida and Bringham Young University in July 2023.

Those additions will move the Big 12 into more urban markets, particularly Houston, which is the eighth-largest media market in the U.S. Unless Texas and Oklahoma leave early, the Big 12 will have 14 members for two seasons, growing from five states with 40.2 million people to eight states with more than 76.5 million people, according to a press release from the Big 12 and Translation.

“We believe in the convergence of culture, technology, and storytelling to power the modern-day student-athlete,” Stoute said in a statement. “The expansion of the Big 12 is an unparalleled opportunity to bring a community of students, college sports fans, and athletes together through the influence of music and creators.

Yormark joined the Big 12 after a nearly three-year stint at Roc Nation, the entertainment firm founded by Jay-Z. The music icon co-founded Translation Advertising with Stoute in 2008. Jay-Z no longer has a stake in Translation.

Yormark has overhauled the Big 12’s marketing leadership, recently hiring Detroit Piston’s marketing executive Tyrel Kirkham as the conference’s chief marketing officer, and Clark Williams (also a Pistons vet) as associate VP for brand communications. 

On Sept. 29, the Big 12 hired Endeavor-owned WME Sports and IMG Media to oversee its global content and commercial strategy, including handling multimedia rights and social media strategy, as well as to “advise on the use of data, sports wagering, NFTs, and IP [and] help develop premium fan experiences,” according to a statement.

The Big 12’s media rights are now with Fox and ESPN in a deal that ends in 2025. Yormark has already begun talks on the conference’s next media deal. 

“We've had some real meaningful conversations with ESPN and Fox in the last three weeks, and those conversations go beyond just the economics. It's how can we truly partner and how they can lean in and, and be an advocate for helping us grow our brand and our business,” he said.