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SALT LAKE CITY — Taking an obvious shot at the Big 12, George Kliavkoff got off the line of the day during the day the Pac-12 media day in Los Angeles.
The commissioner, starting his second year on the job for the suddenly vulnerable conference, went after his Big 12 counterpart Brett Yormark, who said two weeks prior that his conference was "open for business." The obvious implication referred to potentially poaching teams from the Pac-12, whose market value dropped precipitously when USC and UCLA announced intentions to join the Big Ten in 2024.
"With respect to the Big 12 being open for business, I appreciate that," Kliavkoff said. "We haven't decided if we're going shopping there yet or not."
Gotcha. Big ups for spinning clever.
But the fact remains the two Los Angeles schools dealt the Pac-12 a serious blow financially with respect to the upcoming media rights negotiations. There's also the prestige factor in losing a football heavyweight the caliber of USC.
The Big 12, which suffered a similar fate last summer, smelled blood in the water. With Oklahoma and Texas going to the Southeastern Conference, the Big 12 is looking to add athletic programs to strengthen its media rights negotiations that expire in 2025.
"Whenever there's instability people take advantage of that, and they threw grenades to try and create more instability," Kliavkoff said during an interview with The Zone. "And we've been seeing that coming from other conferences. I understand why they're going with that. It's not my way of doing business, but I understand it. We're not focused on that. We're focused on what's right for the 10 remaining members of the Pac-12 and growing and stabilizing and building. We're looking at the future.
"All of the presidents and chancellors, all the athletic directors, are aligned," he added. "If anyone wants to take anything away from this particular day, I want it to be that we're confident and optimistic about the future of the Pac-12."
Nothing clever there, but what about spin? Kliavkoff's consistent theme throughout the day-long interviews was the unity among the remaining 10 members.
Kliavkoff repeatedly insisted the conference is on strong footing despite all the uncertainty surrounding college athletics. The week before the Pac-12 media day, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren broached the possibility of his conference expanding.
The Utah Checkdown podcast: A recap of Pac-12 media day and a preview to fall camp
Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff addressed the public for the first time since UCLA and USC left for the Big Ten.The Big Ten likely would look west to ease some of the travel burden that will face USC and UCLA in a conference that will stretch from Los Angeles to Rutgers in New Jersey. Given the financial disparity between the new Big Ten and Pac-12 television contracts, any of the remaining Pac-12 teams would leave in a heartbeat.
"Each school, at the end of day, will have to make a decision that's right for that school," Kliavkoff said. "They have a fiduciary obligation to the conference, but they also have a fiduciary obligation to their campuses. We understand that. The truth is there are things I can control and there are things I can't control, and I spend exactly zero minutes worrying about things I can't control."
The truth also is all this loyalty is only good as the next offer, which is why I pressed Kliavkoff by asking if the foundation is built on sand.
"I understand what you're saying, but I can tell you the presidents and chancellors have told us that their first priority, their top priority, is staying and fortifying the Pac-12," he said.
Taking a shot at the Big 12 one minute, in the next Kliavkoff acknowledges his conference is discussing possibly expanding. He refused to disclose candidates, but San Diego State is high on the list for several reasons.
Cue the emphasis on academics, which seems to have been overlooked in all the shake-ups.
"One of the huge things that upsets me about the USC and UCLA decisions is how that's going to negatively affect the mental and physical health of those student-athletes," Kliavkoff said, "and how it's going to take away their opportunities academically because they're going to be flying back from Rutgers after a game."
