"We need a reliable payment platform": Big 12 commish Brett Yormark opens up on $100 million landmark deal for revenue-sharing

On Thursday, the Big 12, Big Ten and PayPal made a big announcement. They announced a partnership that will allow Big 12 and Big Ten schools to pay their players via PayPal starting on July 1. The massive agreement is worth nearly $100 million over the next five years. Students will also now be able to pay their college tuition via the popular payment platform.

On Thursday morning, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and PayPal CEO Alex Chriss appeared on "Get Up" on ESPN. Yormark discussed his excitement for the deal and what it could mean for the future of college sports.

"July 1 starts revenue share with our student athletes," Yormark said (Timestamp 1:50). "A long time coming and well deserved. I speak beyond just the Big 12. I speak for all of collegiate athletics.

"We need a reliable payment platform to distribute money to our student athletes. We've been at this for over 14 months, trying to figure out if there was a place and a point of entry for PayPal in this world of collegiate athletics."

Wormark continued speaking about the new PayPal deal and his excitement.

"We found it on the heels of the settlement and rev share," Yormark said. "Truly excited about it. When you think about PayPal and Venmo, probably the most culturally relevant payment platforms globally. It's a big opportunity for the Big 12. Big for college athletics."

PayPal CEO Alex Chriss speaks about the new deal with the Big 12 and Big Ten

After Brett Yormark spoke, CEO Alex Chriss opened up about how this partnership between PayPal and the Big 12 and Big Ten will help players get paid more easily going forward.

"PayPal is the easiest way to distribute these funds," Chriss said. "You want to make it seamless and simple for student athletes to be able to get their dollars in their wallet and be able to spend it, and PayPal is the right way."

Yormark was then asked if it would be better for college sports if there was uniformity in all student-athletes being able to receive their money in the same way. He said that while it would be a good thing if all conferences partnered with PayPal and they are hoping that this can happen in the future. However, he joked that uniformity in college football is not something that comes easily.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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