Monster Energy Drink has officially attached itself to the Big 12 Conference, and they’re apparently doing it for a steal.
Brett Yormark introduced the conference’s new co-branding, which includes Monster patches on uniforms, playing surfaces, and in all official league language (i.e., Monster Energy Big 12 Football), is worth roughly $20 million, according to Sports Business Journal, and pays out around $1 million per member school in a deal being scrutinized for underselling the conference.
One source, speaking to Front Office Sports, described the deal as “terrible” and said that the Big 12’s handing far too much away with its multi-year agreement. That same report says the deal generates around $800,000 per year, not the estimated $1 million; For comparison, Kansas just announced a cryptocurrency partnership worth as much as $30 million, per Mike Vernon.
I don’t think anyone is surprised by the fact Yormark’s making a business deal – he’s a business guy. We know that.
No, folks are skeptical whether the Big 12 could be worth so little when it comes to essentially selling the league’s branding across its major revenue-driving sports for a mere $20 million. Imagine what that figure looks like to the SEC or the Big Ten? They’re not far behind, and the number that inevitably emerges from their respective deals will be much higher.
Arkansas, alone, has a jersey patch deal with Tyson Foods, one of the world’s largest meat and poultry processors. They employ 133,000 employees globally and generate $54.4 billion in annual revenue. What’d ya think the Razorbacks are getting?
Yormark has business ties with Monster’s Chief Partnerships Officer, Mitch Covington, from their days at Roc Nation, according to reporting by SBJ. It makes the partnership easier, sure, but to hand off the entire brand? I mean, how often are we going to hear and see that Monster Energy logo? I don’t know if folks have thought that much about it yet. In the Big 12 of old, Dr. Pepper, Phillips 66, or Motel 6 were just secondary partners, and nobody ever worried they were hellbent on becoming the brand itself.
But, like we’ve long feared, we’re at a point where the Big 12, like any of our Power Four neighbors, can’t afford to skip this sort of opportunity anymore. Everyone’s ledger grows by the year, even the most conservative of spenders in the league, we’re in the pay-to-play era, and no 5-for-5 rule or contingency college sports bill is going to flip our system overnight.
