Big 12 executive claps back at Jeff Goodman’s complaint about media seating

Despite reports to the contrary, Clark Williams, the VP of Communications & Strategy for the Big XII, wants people to know that there is good media seating available at the Big 12 Tournament, but that not everyone covering the tournament will get the prime seats.

On Tuesday, Drew Galloway of On3 Sports shared a photo on X (formerly Twitter) of his view of the court at the Big 12 Tournament. Galloway was seated in the upper deck of Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center, the tournament’s home venue.

Field of 68 co-founder Jeff Goodman (as predicted), bemoaned that Galloway was seated so high.

“This is why media shouldn’t even bother going to Big 12 tourney,” Goodman said. “Much more beneficial to just watch on TV.”

Williams responded to Goodman with a courtside photo and a message about the people seated there.

“Here are the seats where beat writers who cover the team throughout the season sit,” he said.

Goodman’s post also got a “Community notes” message from X.

“Like at most basketball arenas, media seating near the court is limited,” the message said. “Given the large number of games and limited time between them, the Big 12 is prioritizing available seating for beat writers and others who follow their teams closely throughout the season.”

More media is going to be present at the Conference Tournament games than regular season games. That’s inevitable. There are several games taking place throughout the day and reporters for each team are going to be there. Plus, there will naturally be more national attention. So, the typical media seating arrangements will be different than normal, as is the case in the postseason for pretty much every sport. Naturally, that means that some members of the media are going to end up in different, less convenient seats. But it does make sense to give the ones who have been there all season the top seating priority whenever possible.