Big 12’s Yormark, Texas Tech booster bicker over Friday video games

A West Texas-style showdown is taking form within the Big 12 between distinguished Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell, who’s the chairman of the varsity’s board of regents, and league commissioner Brett Yormark.

Campbell not too long ago posted on X that the Oct. 18 soccer recreation between the Red Raiders and Houston is predicted to be a Friday evening recreation on Fox, taking difficulty with enjoying on an evening Campbell stated was “sacred” for highschool soccer.

“Friday Night Lights are sacred in the Great State of Texas! It is absolutely absurd that the @Big12Conference and @FOXSports would consider scheduling @TexasTechFB and @UHCougarFB on a Friday night (October 18th)!! I know that @brettyormark is not a native Texan, but he’s been here long enough to know better! Come on, man!”

In response, Yormark told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal on Wednesday that “Cody Campbell does not run the Big 12.”

Campbell poured extra gas on the hearth with one other social media submit early Thursday morning, pushing again on a hot-button matter for Texas Tech followers, when the Big 12 banned their tortilla-tossing celebrations at Jones’ AT&T Stadium, with Texas Tech finally asking followers to cease within the face of huge fines threatened by the league.

He additionally repeated a phrase as soon as caught in a locker room speech by head coach Joey McGuire after the Red Raiders beat Texas in 2022, and which now adorns a wall contained in the Texas Tech soccer facility.

“Apparently Brett didn’t get the memo: EVERYTHING RUNS THROUGH LUBBOCK!!,” Campbell wrote on X. “Maybe we should bring the tortillas back??”

Campbell wasn’t finished. He later advised ESPN that Yormark’s job was to not be “the dictator of the conference.”

“As commissioner, he needs to remember that he works for the presidents, and the presidents work for the boards,” Campbell advised ESPN. “He is not the dictator of the conference. That’s not his role. It is his responsibility to advocate for his members in all cases.”

Yormark’s assertion to the newspaper stated that the league’s board and athletic administrators had accepted 12 video games a 12 months that weren’t on Saturdays to lift Big 12 viewership, and {that a} Texas Tech recreation in prime time would ship that.

Over the previous 5 seasons, not counting the Friday after Thanksgiving, which frequently options faculty soccer video games, Houston has performed 5 Friday evening video games and TCU has performed 4. Texas Tech has not performed a regular-season Friday recreation exterior of Black Friday. Last 12 months, the Red Raiders and Iowa State have been the one Big 12 groups to not play on a Friday evening.

“Friday night Big 12 football games outperformed the Conference’s average rating by 64% in 2025,” Yormark stated. “All of our schools are treated equally during the TV scheduling process and this game fits within our scheduling parameters. I am thankful that our TV partners provide us with these opportunities.”

TV home windows for league video games haven’t been introduced but, however Campbell advised the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that he has heard this recreation was slated that date however he believes it’s too late to vary. He stated he didn’t imagine it is within the college’s — or the league’s — finest curiosity for Texas Tech to play on that evening, significantly after enjoying Oregon State in Corvallis on the earlier Saturday and coming back from a protracted journey.

“I think Yormark could have gone to bat for us and didn’t, because, again, he wanted the ratings,” Campbell stated. “I think FOX is not concerned about any individual team. I think, again, they also want ratings, so they picked the game that’s going to give them the most viewership for that weekend.”

Campbell has change into an outspoken voice on faculty sports activities, together with pushing for change in a sequence of nationwide tv commercials. He was a part of President Donald Trump’s “Saving College Sports” roundtable on the White House on Mar. 6.

A former Texas Tech offensive lineman below Mike Leach, he’s a billionaire oilman who co-founded the Matador Club, the collective that has spent large with a purpose of creating Texas Tech athletics an influence throughout all sports activities. Campbell’s title adorns the sphere at Jones AT&T Stadium on the campus of Texas Tech.

Campbell has a son, Carson, who performs for All Saints’ Episcopal in Fort Worth and is taken into account one of many high offensive line recruits for the state within the class of 2029.