Pac-12 Conference Begins Separation Process from George Kliavkoff: Report
While it may have taken significantly longer than many expected, the Pac-12 Conference is officially beginning the process of separating from commissioner George Kliavkoff.
According to KSL’s Jon Wilner, the Pac-12 released a statement on the situation saying, “The Pac-12 Conference Board has given the departing 10 schools notice of a proposed leadership transition with an invitation to provide comment. We expect to provide more information following a decision in the coming days.”
Kliavkoff was not a popular man among fans of the Conference of Champions as the former commissioner essentially ran the league into the ground by failing to provide an adequate media rights TV deal.
While Kliavkoff reportedly pitched deals with multiple different companies kicking around the idea of broadcasting games for the Pac-12, members of the league lost faith in the vision for the once-great conference and elected to pursue other opportunities through conference realignment.
Washington and Oregon elected to join USC and UCLA in the Big Ten, the “Four Corner” schools (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah) decided to make the move to the Big 12, and California, SMU, and Stanford chose to join the ACC.. With the moves in realignment officially set, the Pac-12 Conference will feature two remaining members in 2024 with Oregon State and Washington State flying solo.
While the idea of bringing in Kliavkoff followed a similar suit to the “new prototype” of league commissioners, similar to what the Big 12 Conference found in Brett Yormark, Kliavkoff’s unorthodox methods and lack of experience in college athletics resulted in finding himself out of a job, and down a league.
