The Big 12 Conference was the first of the power conferences to start playing high octane football adopting spread offenses and the air raid far before anyone else. While the Big 12 may not be as high profile as the SEC and the Big Ten, no one can say that the Conference isn't entertaining. In this new revenue sharing era of College Football, the Big 12 has adapted quicker than anyone else and their newest partnership speaks to that fact while keeping the Conference incredibly entertainin
The Big 12 partners with the WWE bringing Smackdown to Big 12 Country
On Wednesday Morning, the Big 12 announced a partnership with The WWE bringing Friday Night Smackdown to a campus near you.
WWE® & Big 12 Conference to Bring Friday Night Smackdown to Big 12 Markets During 2025 College Football Season
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) July 9, 2025
The announcement serves as an expansion to the already existing relationship between the two brands but, it's their best idea yet. Friday Night Smackdown will be held the night before 4 different Big 12 matchups bringing another attraction to a College Football weekend. In the release, the two sides announced the dates an locations of the events.
- Friday, August 22 – SmackDown at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland (Iowa State vs. Kansas State on Saturday, August 23)
- Friday, October 3 – SmackDown at Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio (Iowa State at Cincinnati on Saturday, October 4)
- Friday, October 24 – SmackDown at Mullet Arena in Tempe, Arizona (Houston at Arizona State on Saturday, October 25)
- Friday, October 31 – SmackDown at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah (Cincinnati at Utah on Saturday, November 1)
The partnership is a great idea for both sides and will create an awesome experience for the fans of College Football and professional wrestling. Fans of both events can now checkout both events in a single weekend creating an easier and cheaper travel experience for fans that would love to take in both events.
This offseason, we've already seen the Big 12 ink a deal with PayPal and Venmo to help facilitate it's revenue sharing payments to student athletes and now this unique partnership with the WWE. Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark is clearly at the top of the game when it comes to landing unique partnerships and his schools will get the massive benefits because of it.