Pac-12 selects Kliavkoff for commissioner
The Pac-12 didn’t exactly go the traditional route when it came to naming a successor to Larry Scott as commissioner. The long-awaited choice is sports entertainment executive George Kliavkoff of MGM Resorts. The announcement was made Thursday morning, with Kliavkoff appearing on the Zoom call from Arizona State’s football offices.
The appointment of Kliavkoff, 54, was supported by a unanimous vote of all Pac-12 presidents and chancellors after a global search conducted by TurnkeyZRG. His five-year contract begins July 1.
Kliavkoff wasted no time speaking about some of the issues fans have wanted addressed. He said the conference will push for expansion of the college football playoff, do everything in its power to see that the Pac-12 contends for national championships in the revenue-making sports, as well as elevate the conference when it comes to media presence.
He also will be advocating for consistent guidelines for the name, image, likeness platforms for college athletes.
University of Oregon president Michael Schill said the search committee met with school presidents, chancellors, athletic directors and women’s administrators to get input as to what they wanted in a new president. He said the position drew more than 200 diverse applicants from around the world.
“That outreach was critical for us in putting together the job description and helping to form what we were looking for, what we needed, for a commissioner,” Schill said. “We believe our new Pac-12 commissioner has these attributes in abundance.
“His experience and what drew us to George was his ability to see where the hockey puck was going to go and attracted all of us to him. Intercollegiate athletics in general, and the Pac-12 specifically, is at a critical crossroads. We believe George is the right person to meet today’s challenges but even more importantly, the challenges of the future.”
Kliavkoff plans to meet with the athletic directors and coaches from a wide variety of men’s and women’s sports, faculty athletic representatives, and a
diverse set of student-athletes to learn more about the conference and begin building relationships at each of the Pac-12 institutions, calling it a “listening tour.”
“I believe I am transitioning from the best job in entertainment to the best job in sports,” said Kliavkoff, a former rower at Boston University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. “I made this jump because I’m passionate about the mission of the Pac-12 conference, to drive financial results, help protect and expand scholarships and support the other education goals of our member institutions.
“I understand that I was not on any of the media’s short list for this role and my name will be new to many of you but I believe my personal style and my experience line up well with the enormous opportunity immediately in front of the Pac-12.”
Kliavkoff says his experience includes structuring media distribution deals including the transition from linear television models to digital, the running of large-scale live events, sponsorships licensing and tickets sales — all which lend themselves to success in the landscape of college athletics.
He served as a member of the Board of Governors of the WNBA and managed
the Las Vegas Aces before selling the team and remains an advocate of women’s sports.
Kliavkoff co-led the largest and most profitable division at Hearst Entertainment & Syndication, overseeing Hearst’s interests in cable television networks, including ESPN, A&E, Lifetime and HISTORY.
He was the first chief digital officer at NBCUniversal, setting corporate digital media strategy and developing new business models and markets. At NBCU, Kliavkoff partnered with News Corp to incubate and launch Hulu, which became a top five video site within six months of launch.
Prior to NBCU, Kliavkoff was executive vice president of business for Major League Baseball Advanced Media and managed corporate development, business development, and baseball’s digital media subscription and licensing businesses.
He says his three “immediate priorities” for the conference are to protect and support the student-athletes, make decisions to optimize revenue for member institutions including renegotiating media distribution and to see that teams are more competitive in revenue generating sports, “especially football.”
Things such as nonconference scheduling and game times will be discussed in an effort to elevate the Pac-12 brand.
“We’re excited. We think there is a new spirit, a new understanding and someone who is very open to building relationships,” ASU Athletic Director Ray Anderson said. “He comes in knowing that he doesn’t know it all. That’s pretty positive.”
In January Scott decided to step down, a full year before the expiration of his contract. He succeeded Tom Hansen as the sixth commissioner of the Pac-12 in July of 2009. His background had been in tennis.
Scott oversaw the transition from a 10-team conference to 12 with the addition of Colorado and Utah but there have missteps along the way. Among the biggest was his decision to launch the Pac-12 Network in 2012 rather than partner with a traditional television networks which would have meant a bigger pay day for the member schools.
The Pac-12 conference’s annual revenue distributions ($32 million per school) were minimal compared to other Power Five peers like the Big Ten ($55 million per school) and the SEC ($45 million per school).
Scott was the highest paid commissioner of any conference as $5.4 million. There has also been criticism of the pricey headquarters the conference maintained in San Francisco.
The appointment of Kliavkoff led to speculation that it makes sense for the conference to move its headquarters to Las Vegas which is already hosting the Pac-12 football championship game as well as the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. Kliavkoff said he and his family are in the process of relocating to San Francisco but Anderson conceded it was likely the conference would move when the contract at the current site expires.
ASU athletic officials were the first to meet with the new boss. They were informed of his arrival Wednesday night although they did not know whom they would be hosting until this morning.
“Very timely and appropriate hire for our conference as we seek to continue to elevate, not only keep pace but surpass our counterparts in terms of our athletic endeavors,” ASU Deputy Athletic Director Jean Boyd said.