Being the commissioner of the PAC 12 is not an easy job right now, to say the least. Commissioner George Kliavkoff inherited quite the bad hand from his incompetent predecessor Larry Scott.
Larry Scott had wrecked the conference with a disastrous PAC 12 media deal that set up an even worse PAC 12 Network. Oftentimes, the biggest conference sporting events were often unavailable for many viewers or on at weird times.
And, when USC and UCLA decided last summer that staying in the conference was financially untenable long-term, that put George Kliavkoff in an impossible position of trying to negotiate a good media deal that could put them anywhere close financially to the Big Ten and SEC. Now, they risk falling significantly behind the Big 12 and ACC financially, threatening the health of the conference. They cannot get a media deal done, and it’s painfully obvious the options are bleak.
Don’t worry, though! George Kilavkoff stepped up to the microphone at PAC 12 media days and told us everything was a-ok. Problem is, nobody believed him.
Here are some of his most ironic and tone-deaf comments from Friday’s presser.
George Kliavkoff: "We are not announcing the TV deal today on purpose because I want the focus to be on football."
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) July 21, 2023
Pac-12’s George Kliavkoff: “The longer we wait for our media deal the better our options are”
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 21, 2023
George Kliavkoff says his schools leaving for other leagues is "not a concern. Our schools are committed to each other and the Pac-12."
He says that he thinks after the Pac-12 does its media deal, the round of realignment will "come to an end for this cycle."
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) July 21, 2023
Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff: "We're on track to announce our deals at about the same time as everyone would have anticipated before the news of conference realignment … announcement in the near future."
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) July 21, 2023
Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff at media day: "Speaking of football — the Pac-12 is the strongest it's been in two decades."
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) July 21, 2023
A good follow-up from @JamesCrepea: Does "on purpose" mean there's a deal done and you're just not announcing it yet?
Kliavkoff: "I think you're reading too much into that."
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) July 21, 2023
Cue the circus music, folks. Nobody believes any of this. But, you have to applaud him for trying.