Pac-12 hires George Kliavkoff as new commissioner
LOS ANGELES — Desperate for a different direction to turn around its struggling conference, the Pac-12 has settled on an unexpected leader from outside college sports.
The Pac-12 has hired George Kliavkoff, president of entertainment and sports at MGM Resorts International, as its new commissioner.
Kliavkoff, who has no experience in college sports, takes the reins of a conference in steep decline at a crucial juncture, with negotiations for a media rights deal imminent and the conference still struggling to compete on the football field.
The Vegas entertainment executive does have minimal experience within the landscape of professional sports, having served on the WNBA board of governors and as executive vice president of advanced media within Major League Baseball from 2003 to 2006. But the vast majority of his work experience has been as an executive, serving on boards for BetGM, A+E Networks and Hulu.
“This is a challenging time for intercollegiate athletics, but I believe these challenges also create significant opportunities,” Kliavkoff said in a statement.
University of Oregon President Michael Schill, who chaired the commissioner search committee, called Kliavkoff “the new prototype for a sports commissioner.”
“At each step of his career, George has navigated complex, quickly changing environments and has been a successful consensus builder,” Schill said in a statement. “George is a visionary leader with an extraordinary background as a pioneering sports, entertainment and digital media executive, and we are delighted and honored that he has agreed to become our next Pac-12 commissioner.”
The decision to hire an outsider with a new vision for the conference echoes the last time the conference hired a commissioner. Larry Scott was the chairman and CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association when the Pac-12 plucked him away as its commissioner.
His turbulent 11-year tenure began with what was then the most lucrative college
sports TV contract in history for 12 years and $300 million. But in recent years, as the Pac-12 fell behind the rest of the Power Five and the Pac-12 Networks continued to struggle, Scott’s time as commissioner was marred by issues throughout the conference. Those issues were especially pressing on the football field, where the Pac-12 hasn’t contributed a team to the College Football Playoff in four years.
Scott, whose $5 million salary far outpaced other similar conference commissioners, announced in late January that he would step down. His last day as commissioner is set for June 30.