Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff opens up about media rights and expansion plans
The conference realignment and media rights saga that has been taking over the headlines this college football season have been coming from seemingly everywhere, but the Pac-12.
However on Tuesday, Pac-12 insider John Canzano released a podcast interview with Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, that provided us some major insight into what the conference's future could look like.
Starting with the immediate future of the remaining 10 teams, and if there were any concerns about conferences like the Big 12 or Big Ten poaching, Kliavkoff reportedly seemed confident that no one else is leaving. He explained to Canzano his mindset about the situation saying:
“Listen, I think if schools would have left for the Big Ten, they would have left for the Big Ten already..."
They also discussed the media rights plans as well, which Kliavkoff put en emphasis on availability to the fans. Something that could you could make an argument the conference currently doesn't have with. Kliavkoff expressed the ways in which he is prioritizing certain aspects in negotiating saying:
“Certainly revenue is at the top of the priority list but we have to also balance that against distribution,” Kliavkoff said. “We really want our content to be available to any of our fans who want to see it. I’ve set a goal that our content should be available to any piece of glass connected to the internet as part of our next media rights negotiation.”
The expansion aspect of the interview was likely not as juicy as most Pac-12 fans hoped as Canzano expressed:
Kliavkoff talked about Pac-12 expansion, but he didn’t make it sound like a certainty. In fact, he didn’t really say adding schools has even been talked about, at least formally.
This could be Kliavkoff's way of not revealing the conference's plans, but it is interesting that Canzano didn't feel that he same sense of confidence from Kliavkoff in this aspect in comparison to all the schools staying together. Canzano did mention that Kliavkoff provided a "rough timeline" that went as follows:
"...get the media-rights deals done first, then make conference expansion decisions."
An order that Canzano was puzzled by, but speculated was likely because neither party would want ESPN or conglomerates brokering conference-realignment deals.
With the Pac-12 commissioner opening up like this, it definitely implies that moves are being made as we speak, and there could be some huge news in the coming week.
