In October, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark told Front Office Sports he was hoping to take the conference “international.” Now, a plan is beginning to materialize.

The Big 12 is working on staging basketball and football games in Mexico, a conference source confirmed to FOS. 

The Houston Chronicle, which first reported the news, noted games could begin as early as this upcoming season and be held at Mexico City’s Arena CDMX for basketball and Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA for football. Yormark reportedly visited Mexico recently.

The plan is all part of the Big 12’s intention to establish a long-term presence in Mexico with games over multiple years, the source told FOS. The conference also plans to celebrate the local culture via everything from digital marketing strategies to enlisting well-known local performers.

“Mexico is a natural extension for the Big 12,” the source said. “The commissioner has seen the success the NBA, NFL, and professional leagues have had building their brands in Mexico and plans to replicate that.”

The conference will have a future lineup of at least four Texas schools near the Mexican border, including TCU, Texas Tech, Baylor, and incoming Houston — and Yormark’s stated intention to expand to the West Coast could bring another if a Southern California school makes the cut.

Five Americans are among the world’s highest-paid athletes — but the Middle East has opened its purse strings to become a stronger player in the sports arena.

When LIV Golf hit the scene in 2022, the new league dished out guaranteed money to PGA Tour members, placing several in Forbes’ world top-10 world’s wealthiest athletes.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund bankrolled the upstart LIV Golf tour, throwing tens of millions at stars like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. 

“Forbes estimates that Mickelson received a guarantee of $200 million to sign with the tour, and Johnson $125 million, half of which they are believed to have received upfront,” noted the magazine.

The Saudis and Qatar also pay the mega-salaries of the top three athletes on this list (in order): Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappé. 

While the above three are all international soccer players, three NBA superstars (LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant) and two LIV golfers (Johnson and Mickelson) feature in the top 10. 

With Middle Eastern money flowing into golf and soccer, the world’s top athletes are making more money on and off the field than ever.

According to Forbes, the top 10 highest-paid athletes collected a record $1.11 billion before taxes and agent’s fees over the past 12 months — up 12% from $990 million last year and a 5% increase over the previous record of $1.06 billion set in 2018.

Wrexham Fever is coming to the U.S. with a whole lot of momentum.

Last Thursday, tickets to Wrexham AFC’s July 19 match against Chelsea FC at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium went on sale. By midday on Monday, the game was completely sold out.

“It’s no surprise that the pairing of global football and one of American college football’s great venues is a hot ticket,” said Steve Hogan, CEO of Florida Citrus Sports, which is organizing the match with Unified Events. “This a must-see match on the summer soccer calendar in America.”

UNC is just the first stop on Wrexham’s first American tour: The Red Dragons will play MLS reserve team LA Galaxy II in Los Angeles on July 22, followed by Manchester United in San Diego on July 25.

It’s all part of a huge coming-out party for the small Welsh side, which was purchased by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in February 2021 for a reported $2.5 million.

The club has gained additional media exposure through FX’s docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham,” which Reynolds and McElhenney created to document their ownership of the team.

In April, Wrexham secured promotion to EFL League Two by clinching the National League title with a 3-1 win over Boreham Wood. On Tuesday, the team paraded through the streets of Wrexham with the championship trophy — amid plans to take the celebration to Las Vegas soon after.

Ohio sportsbooks have paused betting on the University of Alabama baseball games following reports of dubious sportsbook activity at the Cincinnati Reds ballpark. 

Las Vegas-based bet monitoring firm U.S. Integrity recognized suspicious wagering activity on Friday’s Alabama-LSU game at Great American Ball Park via the BetMGM sportsbook. Alabama lost 8-6. 

On Monday, the Ohio Casino Control Commission instructed licensed sportsbooks in the state to halt accepting any wagers involving the Crimson Tide. 

FanDuel reportedly decided to not only pull all Alabama baseball wagers in Ohio, but remove Crimson Tide bet offerings in all states within its sportsbook. 

Ohio has had a rocky start to legalizing sports betting as the state’s casino commission also accused BetMGM, Caesars, and DraftKings in January of advertising violations.

The American Gaming Association announced new guidelines in March that asked sportsbooks to no longer sign marketing deals with universities, but BetMGM struck a multiyear deal with the Reds in October 2022 to open a sportsbook at its ballpark. 

Other MLB teams with stadium sportsbooks include the Washington Nationals (BetMGM) and Arizona Diamondbacks (Caesars), while the Chicago Cubs plan to open a DraftKings sportsbook at Wrigley Field later this year.