Thursday provided perhaps the craziest day of news that Big 12 fans have seen since learning that Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah were joining Colorado in jumping ship from the Pac-12 to come and join the conference.
The reports of “creative ways” to bring in revenue said that the Big 12 is considering a private equity investment of up to $1 billion and that the league is also looking at naming rights partnerships, and that the “Big 12” could soon be the “Allstate 12,” or something like it.
The latter reports really seemed to get folks talking, including the Heartland College Sports staff. So, in this week’s Roundtable, we discuss who should be the Big 12’s naming rights sponsor and why.
Pete Mundo: NVIDIA Conference
I spent all day trying to figure out a company that sounds good and makes sense. Then I said to myself, “Who cares?!”
Just take the money, and do it with the hottest company in modern American stock market history. The semiconductor giant sits just shy of a $3 trillion valuation, making it the third-largest company in the world.
Nvidia is the premier provider of AI chips. Its hardware powers the technology so many believe is the next big thing. Since ChatGPT-3 was first released to the public, Nvidia’s stock is up almost 700%, and it tipped above $1,200 a share last week. It just did a 10-1 stock split as well.
Brett Yormark is forward-thinking, loves the tech-y world, and would be latching the Big 12 brand onto the future and leader in the AI world. So forget the cute names that make sense and just go all in on the money while latching onto a company that might also be able to provide value for the conference as a whole in the future.
Bryan Clinton: Southwest Airlines
There are going to be plenty of suitors for the naming rights of such a recognizable brand like the Big 12, but how many of them actually make sense? Sure, they could call it the “Allstate 12” or the “Big Allstate Conference,” but should they? I’m not so sure.
One of the suggestions that I’ve seen that does make sense, however, is a partnership with Southwest Airlines. The name makes sense, considering the heart of the conference is in the Southwestern region of the United States, the color scheme is something that could be worked with, and there’s also the fact that many of the schools in the Big 12 were once members of the Southwest Conference until 1996, when the Big 12 was born. It makes a ton of sense, and in a college football world that is making less sense by the minute, a partnership with Southwest Airlines would be refreshing.
Joe Tillery: Proper 12 Whiskey
Folks, it’s time. Give me the Proper 12 Conference, with Proper No. 12 Irish Whiskey as the official sponsor. The company is run by UFC legend Conor McGregor and would add even further spark to the ongoing debate about the best name for the new league. The Proper 12 is an incredible idea.
The only caveat I have to the debate is that I’m not sure if the company is far enough along in its life cycle to throw around the type of money that’s being reported. Allstate appears to be in the driver’s seat as of June 14th, but in the event Proper No. 12 could pull off a generational comeback, hearing the Voice of the Octagon, Bruce Buffer, introduce the league at Media Days as “The one, the only, Proper 12” might be the best possible situation of all time.
Matthew Postins: Charlie Hustle
There are so many choices here. And, frankly, Allstate — the rumored front-runner — isn’t a bad choice at all. The brand is already pretty ubiquitous in college sports. But I’ll take the Kansas City-based clothier, current Big 12 partner, and NIL merchandise partner with players from Kansas and Kansas State. They already have a good relationship, the brand already supports the conference (and vice versa), and I like the ring of it. Putting ‘Hustle’ in there exemplifies what the Big 12 is doing — and has to do — in order to keep up.
Derek Duke: Southwest Airlines
There are so many companies to choose from, and I thought Buc-ees, Whataburger, or Dr. Pepper would be a great sponsorship. While the Whata12 Conference has a nice ring to it, Southwest Airlines takes the cake for me.
Decades ago, the Southwest Conference was always an actual conference that featured teams from Texas and, of course, Arkansas. Why not dust off the old conference logo and bring it back? Just take a look at this thing of beauty from Landon here.
Southwest Airlines, like the Big 12, is based in Dallas. When you combine that with the name, it’s absolutely perfect. I have no idea if Southwest Airlines has that kind of coin, but they would be the perfect partner for the Big 12 if we are just spitballing here. They could be the official airline of all Big 12 fans, and maybe they could offer a discount for Big 12 fans who are traveling to other areas for away games.
