Canzano: Big 12 trying to repair monster fracture

There's always more to the story.

Brett Yormark is taking a monster of a beating from some corners of the Big 12 for closing a $20 million deal with Monster Energy Drink. The conference commissioner announced this week that football and basketball teams will wear the brand’s patch on their uniforms and put it on the courts and fields.

The football and men’s and women’s basketball seasons will also be called “Monster Energy Big 12 Football” and “Monster Energy Big 12 Basketball.”

The payout: $1.25 million per school, we’re told.

BYU and Texas Tech fans, in particular, seem to hate the deal. They think their schools could do better negotiating on their own. And while Monster’s strategy may have been to beat the market as an early adopter, I’m convinced there’s a lot more to this story.

As in, will the top Big 12 schools reap a bigger share?