The Pac-12 conference has seen rapid change over the past 12 months. That change, however, can be traced back even further to the tumultous Larry Scott era inside the Pac-12.
Learning from their mistakes of letting a lingering problem hang around, recent reports state that the conference is moving to separate from Scott’s replacement, current commissioner George Kliavkoff.
Pac-12 Separating From George Kliavkoff
According to noted Pac-12 insider Jon Wilner, the Pac-12 has formally begun the process that will separate themselves from their current commissioner. Wilner posted the news shortly following the 4 p.m. mark on the East Coast.
“The Pac-12 Conference Board has given the departing 10 schools notice of a proposed leadership transition with an invitation to provide comment,” Wilner attached as a statement from the Pac-12. “We expect to provide more information following a decision in the coming days.”
While some find change hard, the Pac-12 have had it harder than most over the past few months. Not only did they see millions of dollars lost during the Scott era, fans of the conference saw the demise of the Pac-12 when 10 teams jumped ship to either the ACC, Big Ten, or Big 12.
Left standing was Oregon State, Washington State, and Kliavkoff. And while it’s easy to blame the man at the top, Kliavkoff always had his work cut out for him, following in the footsteps of the mess Scott left them in.
Entering the picture in 2021, Kliavkoff took the post with no college sports experience and took the reins of an embattled conference. He signed a five-year contract and was announced as the ‘new prototype of sports commissioner’ by Oregon president Michael H. Schill.
However, despite his best efforts, Kliavkoff couldn’t save what Scott had torn down. With the unexpected announcement of USC and UCLA departing for the Big Ten, the Los Angeles powers all but took the conference with them. Driving the conference’s largest television market with them to the Big Ten, the Pac-12 couldn’t keep their remaining teams happy due to a combination of factors that likely began with national notoriety and TV revenue.
Despite a grant of rights that equally shared the media rights revenue, Colorado followed suit and left for the Big 12. Kliavkoff attempted to stave off the complete annihilation of the conference with a last-ditch incentive-based revenue deal that would give the remaining schools upwards of $20 million per year, but it wouldn’t be enough.
Considering the Big 12’s lowest revenue was nearly $10 million more than what would be the Pac-12’s highest offer at $20 million per year, Kliavkoff’s efforts were doomed from the start. Just days later, Oregon and Washington left for the Big Ten, and Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah left for the Big 12.
That, of course, was followed by Cal and Stanford jumping to the ACC and forcing the remaining two Pac-12 teams to play a modified conference schedule against Mountain West foes in 2024.
MORE: 2024 College Football Realignment
Ultimately, revenue has been seen as the largest dividing factor that led to the realignment and subsequent disbanding of the former Pac-12 teams, and that tied back to the Scott era. Blaming Kliavkoff is all too easy at the time, but with the mess given to him at the jump, fans likely saw this end coming.
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